Both Sides of the Tracks
by Anonymous Void
Summary: The life of an outcast undergoes a series of incredible changes all steming from the arrival of a prestigious family's black sheep.
1. Another Day in the Life of Duo Maxwell

Author's Note: I have returned once more. If you were anticipating an action fic like my last several ones, I'm afraid you're going to be a bit diappointed, however, I have always wanted to do an AU fic and now I have produced this baby. I know, I know, the plot devise for this fic has been done to death and beyond but to those that know my work, it's not going to be like the typical ones. Yes, this has a plot, one that will be revealed slowly over time and at my leisure. Anyway, I welcome you back, my faithful readers, and I invite some of you newbies to sit down and enjoy this fic. It's going to be a long one, longer than all my others according to my calculations so no need to worry about seeing an ending...yet. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing.

Warning: Slight language

Both Sides of the Tracks

Another Day in the Life of Duo Maxwell

Raberba Bahjir Winner frowned slightly as he listened to his younger brother, Ezekiel Bahjir Winner explained to him about the latest news concerning his son. Out of all the Winner children, Ezekiel was perhaps the most western-influenced, his name signifying their father's, Bahjir Zawnal Winner, gesture to embracing the outside world's culture. But then, that hadn't made sense since they lived in one of those western societies anyway.

But that was neither here nor there, Ezekiel was explaining the latest stunt that his son (what was his name again? It was something western sounding) had been involved with. Compared to the other Winner children, this one was quite the black sheep.

He had to count his blessings, that despite having twenty-nine daughters, his son, Quatre Raberba Winner, was in no way shape or form that bad. But whatever his nephew was doing, it was wearing down his younger brother down to the point that he had to do something. Perhaps a change in scenery might help.

"Why don't you send him to stay with me?" he proposed. "Perhaps he needs to get away from it all and what better way to do it than to send him to another location? If anything, I think Quatre and the girls could probably temper him down."

"You think so?" Ezekiel asked, brightening visibly.

"It's worth a try," Raberba answered. "If worst comes to worst, we'll take away the netting that he is so used to falling back on. He's going to learn, one way or another. First thing tomorrow, I'll start the preparations to send him to my son's public school."

"You're a life saver, Raberba," Ezekiel said. "I don't know how to repay you for this…"

"Don't worry about it," Raberba waved the matter away. "You're my brother. How could I not?"

Giving their farewells, Raberba hung up and silently began to contemplate the matter at hand. This nephew of his needed to shape up and shape up quickly. He was a Winner. What light reflected on one reflected on all.

This would be the boy's last chance.

---

Welcome to yet another day in the life of Duo Maxwell.

Said teen sighed as he walked within the domain of the building which housed the school he attended. A place he despised just like any other teen his age. However, he wasn't one of the popular kids, one of the jocks, or one of the preps. He was an outsider.

Fortunately for him, he was in a limbo of sorts. He was one of the few people who wasn't picked on. Sure, he had all the things that would attract bullies and taunts like a magnet. He was short, had long chestnut hair that he kept in a braid, wore black most of the time. But he would be damned if anyone called him a Goth or an emo. He would never stoop so low.

But just because he wasn't picked on didn't mean his life was utterly perfect. No, instead, he was ignored. Duo was a social person and needed interaction with other human beings to thrive. Fortunately, he had such a person to communicate with on a daily basis.

Closing his locker and turning his violet eyes, he came face to…neck with that person.

Quatre Winner, or Quatre Raberba Winner if he was to be formally introduced.

He was everything that people wanted and respected. Rich, handsome, built like an athlete and participated in such activities, tall, smart, charismatic… Hell, there wasn't a bad thing you could say about him that wasn't perfect. Except for the fact that he giggled liked a girl when you touched the small of his back just right…

And no, he didn't learn that the way you are thinking. He does spend the night at Quatre's often enough and boys being boys ended up wrestling with each other. And why didn't that sound right either? He'd think about it later, now was the time to socialize.

"Hey Duo!" the blond haired, blue-eyed youth greeted.

"How ya keeping up, Quat?" Duo greeted back.

"Eh, same old, same old," Quatre answered, lounging up against the lockers.

"Still missing Trowa? You guys are usually attached at the hip," Duo asked, before mischievously adding, "or should I say lips?"

Quatre chuckled. "Just because he got sick over the weekend doesn't mean you get to make fun of him behind his back. He should be back tomorrow though."

"Guess it looks like it's just you and me now," Duo commented. "If you need to relieve some tension, there's a restroom just right over there…"

"Duo, you're impossible!" Quatre laughed, slinging an arm around Duo's shoulders. "But you know, I'd be top."

"Hey, just because you're taller doesn't mean you get to be top," Duo retorted as they began to walk to class.

The good natured jesting was always the highlight of his day. No one else seemed to dare to be like this with Quatre but then again, he was literally the richest kid in the school. Hmm, now there was a thought. Perhaps a reason why he wasn't picked on was because he was friends with Quatre? If the rumors were true, the last time someone had upset Quatre, the kid had to move to another country to continue their education.

Reaching their class long before the bell was due, Duo made himself as comfortable as possible in the ever uncomfortable desks. Why, oh why, couldn't the school invest in some more comfortable chairs?

Glancing up at the door, he sighed to himself. If there was any kind of bullying he had received, it was mainly verbal and out of Quatre's hearing and always done by that person coming in right now.

Chang Wufei.

He, too, had an affluent family, not as prestigious as Quatre's, but nonetheless important. Chinese in origin with silky black hair and onyx-colored eyes, his face was in its usual snobby (at least to Duo it was) expression. Oh and look, there came his little lapdog, Heero Yuy, a Japanese youth.

Now Heero was the most widely sought after guy as it seemed the whole female population was obsessed with him. A large reason why nobody messed with him was that he was big, strong, could kick a person's ass from here to the coast without breaking a sweat, and other similar attributes. Don't get him wrong, the combination of messy brown hair and Prussian blue eyes was a lethal combination to all would-be suitors, Duo included in that. But Heero was really a jerk, always thinking himself to be perfect and accepting nothing less.

Somebody please throttle him.

Fortunately, before the two Asians could attempt to begin a verbal assault on his fragile psyche, Ms. Lucreiza Noin, the World History teacher walked in, tardy for once. Even though she was a real laid-back and easy-going person, she didn't tolerate disrespect (her word, not his) inside her classroom. Typically, she would walk in right _before_ the bell rang but today must be special.

Duo wasn't quite sure he knew what could be the reason for her tardiness though.

The moment she began taking out the incredibly thick history textbook, Duo groaned to himself, along with a good majority of the class. Now he knew what was so special about today. Now that he took a good look at her, he knew that she was off, and that only happened about once a month or so.

Damn it, why hadn't anybody found a cure for PMS yet? They can cure polio, create 4-D images of a baby in the womb, hell, even figure out what DNA looked like, but they couldn't figure out a way to keep females from spazzing out once a month? This was bullshit!

Now, he wasn't someone who struggled in history class. No, he was near the top and was blessed to have an easy time in it. It was just that when Ms. Noin was having her time of the month, she gave out pretty ludicrous assignments and expected them done by the next day when the amount of work assigned was something that could take an entire week to do.

Hopefully, please God let it be, she was closer to the ending of this time period than towards the beginning.

A wad of paper landed in front of him but he didn't need to open it to know who had sent it. Wufei was trying to get him in trouble wasn't he? He was going to have to try better than that.

"Mr. Maxwell? Would you do the honors of reading from page 87 to page 124 out loud to the class?" he heard Ms. Noin ask in a sickening sweet voice. Now, he knew better than to argue with such an unreasonable demand.

So, as in only the way that he could, he answered, "Yes Ms. Noin. It would be an honor."

Usually, Noin would see through his bullshit (her word again, not his) but perhaps the hormones raging throughout her system might blind her this time.

"An honor, is it? Are you trying to bullshit me, Maxwell?"

Okay, maybe not. What chapter was this anyway? Oh, this might be promising.

"No, Ms. Noin," he replied smoothly, maneuvering like a politician on the campaign trail. "Ancient Egypt is one of my favorite time periods. I particularly am fascinated by their religious beliefs, especially those concerning death and the afterlife."

"Oh really? Care to give an example?"

"Hey, I can never get enough of old Seth murdering Osiris and having Isis bring him back to life to rule over the afterlife while his son Horus gets into many misadventures that involve him making a fool out of old Seth."

"Huh," was Noin's reply. Perfect! He got her mind off of her condition! Hopefully… Now, if only she would take the bait…then the rest of the class would owe him big time. "And what does Osiris being murdered have anything to do with Ancient Egypt, Maxwell?"

Pfft. Could she give him an easier question?

"Osiris was basically the Pharaoh before Seth killed him. Because he was brought back to a semi-form of living, it was believed that the fate of Osiris would be that of the following Pharaohs, to become rulers of the next life once they died, thus contributing to the belief that the Pharaoh was a god of sorts."

"Interesting," Noin commented as she began asking more questions about the topic.

Oh yeah. These guys owed him big time.

Then again, they hadn't paid him back before…

Well, at least he had a chance of preventing the teacher from giving out unreasonable assignments. And he had only lasted…ten minutes so far. Fifty more left to go. God, he hated his life sometimes.

---

Quatre couldn't be happier at the moment. Not only was school out but he had managed to get out of having to do any homework whatsoever!

Noin's class was a tense one, but Duo had miraculously managed to divert her attention from classwork that day. Even though he didn't really understand half the stuff they were debating about, which is how that discussion turned out, he couldn't have been more proud of his friend than he was then.

Now, if he could figure out how to pay him back…

While Duo had gotten in depth with the teacher, Quatre had notice a couple glares aimed at his braided friend. Glares from two particular Asians known as Chang Wufei and Heero Yuy. They were just jealous, or at least Wufei was, of that Quatre was certain. He was by no means blind, deaf, and dumb to the happenings at school. For some reason, Wufei didn't like Duo. At all. And he had an idea as to why that was…

At last! Home sweet home! Well, home looked more like a mansion, but you get the picture.

He had just reached the front door when he felt off for some reason. His home was still home, naturally, but there was something…different about it. What could it be? Hmm…only one way to find out and that was to go inside.

Oh yeah, something was different. He could feel it in his bones. Damn it, what the hell could it be?

"Quatre."

He snapped his head around and felt tension leave him slightly at the sight of his father. If anybody could explain why things seemed different, it would be him. Wait a minute, though. What was his father doing home so early anyway?

"Yes Father?" he answered, holding back his curiosity.

"Come to my study," the man said and turned around, expecting his son to follow. And as expected, Quatre did so. Once in the named room, Quatre remained standing as his father sat down, waiting what for it was that his father wanted to say to him.

After a few moments of silence, his father spoke suddenly. "As of today, we are going to have another ward here. Your cousin, to be precise."

His cousin. Okay. What was the big deal about that? Wait, which cousin was he talking about? The Winner family was enormous. He had more cousins than he cared to count.

"Which one?" he asked aloud, though.

That earned him a chuckle from his father. "I keep forgetting how big the family is," his father said, good humor still in his voice. "You've met before, quite some years ago, in fact, so I don't expect you to remember him. However, I do expect you to make sure he settles down here, both at home and at your school, which he will begin attending with you tomorrow."

Okay, but that didn't answer his question. Patience Quatre. All good things come with patience.

His father looked over his shoulder and said, "Well, speak of the devil. There he is."

Unable to keep his curiosity unsated, he turned around to see who his father was looking at. There in the doorway stood a boy who was taller than him by a good few inches if not an entire foot. He had the trademark Winner blond hair though it was long, held in a ponytail, and wore a simple set of blue jeans, a white undershirt, and a black trench coat that stopped just under his knees. Bored green eyes bored into him from a very handsome face.

"Quatre Raberba Winner," his father introduced, "I would like to reacquaint you with your cousin Solomon Ezekiel Winner. Solomon, I'd like to reacquaint you with Quatre."

Solomon nodded then turned and left without so much as a word.

His father was right. He had difficulty remembering this one. But why was he here in the first place?

Well, he'd have to deal with all that in time. He waited until he was given a dismissal before heading to his room to make a phone call. He wanted to know if Trowa would be coming back tomorrow. He had a feeling that he was going to need as much support as he could get.


	2. He Doesn't Date Sluts

Author's Note: Seems like I got a following with this. I've got big plans for this baby, big plans. In this chapter, there is a bit of humor that I'd like to accredit to one ShadowMajin since he has infected me with his own…unique brand of humor.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, slight shounen ai, slight angst

He Doesn't Date Sluts

Quatre was up bright and early the next morning. However, he wasn't a morning person and needed a good long shower and some caffeine, or Trowa, before he could become remotely sociable. His body movements were sluggish this wonderful Tuesday morning as he got out of his comfortable king-sized bed and trudged into the hard tiled, private bathroom.

As he let the warm water trickle down all around him, something told him that there was something he needed to do today. Oh yeah, he needed to call Trowa and see if he was feeling better. If he was, then he would get to be with him during school!

That was enough to make him hurry up his morning ritual and return to his bedroom where he picked up his phone and dialed a number he was all too familiar with. He waited as he heard the phone ring a few times before somebody picked up.

"_Hello?_"

"Is that you Trowa?" Quatre asked enthusiastically.

"_Yeah, Quatre. Nice to hear from you._"

"I was wondering how you were doing today," Quatre continued. "Are you feeling better? Do you think you can come to school?"

He heard a light-hearted chuckle on the other end before he was answered. "_Yeah, I'm doing much better. I think I may be able to come but don't get your hopes up yet._"

"When have I ever gotten my hopes up?" Quatre asked in mock offense.

"_Remember that guy you hooked Duo up with who turned out to be a girl? You said that they were the perfect couple and everything._"

"I make mistakes, just like everyone else," Quatre defended. "And it was only that one time, too."

"_Whatever you say, love,_" Trowa replied, amused. "_If I'm well enough, I'll see you later today, okay?_"

"Of course," Quatre answered. "I can't wait to see you again."

"_Neither can I._"

Hanging up, albeit reluctantly, Quatre immediately resumed his usual morning grumpiness as he got dressed and headed down to the kitchen to get his caffeine boost that he so desperately needed. Once taking in a sip of the hot coffee, he let out a sigh of contentment. Oh yeah, that was it.

"Morning."

He jumped and spun around at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. Sitting at the breakfast table as if he had been there all along was Solomon who was watching him with a bored expression. That's right, he had to introduce his cousin to his school today. How did that slip his mind?

"Good morning, Solomon," Quatre greeted as he took another sip of his precious cup of coffee. Solomon frowned at his name though.

"Don't call me that," he stated. "I only let the adults do that cause they have the money and can do whatever they want. To you, an everybody else, I am Solo. Got that?"

Quatre frowned at this. "I don't see what the problem is. I think Solomon's a good name—"

"And I don't give a crap about that," Solo interrupted. "It could be the name of Jesus for all I care. The name is Solo to you. Not Solomon. Just Solo. Okay?"

"Okay, I understand," Quatre muttered, not seeing what the big deal was. They had only been talking to each other for five minutes and already they were off to a bad start. Well, one could only make the most of things. "So, do you think you're ready for school?"

"Do I have to go?" Solo nearly whined and Quatre had to stifle a chuckle. From what he had seen of his cousin thus far, he had the impression that the blond had that "tough guy" mentality. This was certainly a turnabout.

"No choice," he replied, smirking inwardly as the other blond began to look like he was pouting. "That's not going to get you anywhere," he commented.

"Doesn't hurt to try," Solo muttered.

Quatre let out a laugh this time, shaking his head in amusement. Perhaps he shouldn't mention that they would be having to leave earlier than usual so that he could get set up with the school itself.

But then again, the sadist in him was just begging for some satisfaction and who was he to deny it?

---

Waking up from the dredges of sleep, Duo grumbled as yet another _cheery_ morning greeted him when he was in no way cheerful. The silence that greeted him as he slowly emerged from his fortress of blankets and bedcovers was just another reminder of his lonely existence in this cruel world.

There wasn't a perky and bright mother in the kitchen whipping up a feast of a breakfast. There wasn't a strong and paternal father sitting at the breakfast table reading the morning paper. There was just him, Duo Maxwell, trudging down the hallway like the typical teenager that he was to a cold and empty dining room.

He had never known what it was to have parents, real, there-for-you parents. He had never known his mother but he had heard some things from those she had considered close friends. She hadn't been dealt the best of hands in the game of life but she made due with what she had. Not having the necessary skills to fit in into society, she had reluctantly entered the world of prostitution, pimps, and all that other jazz.

That's where his father came in. He was just another customer who came in to relieve himself and instead had left his mother with the growing seed that would later become him. His father was not in a similar situation as his mother, far from it. He had money, he worked in an enormous corporation as one of the executives. And he didn't want Duo in the first place.

Luckily for his mother, she had good friends in all the right places. Through some legal proceedings, along with a lot of evidence supporting her, his mother had managed to acquire a tiny bit of wealth along with a court order that his father had to send in child support checks until he graduated high school and paid for any and all college that he attended. However, his mother didn't live long after he was born. He may have been three when she died due to some health condition of hers that he never told about and he was being raised by the friends that had stayed by her side.

It was when he entered the seventh grade that he requested to live on his own, a decision that his mother's friends protested but ultimately allowed. He wasn't paying for anything; that was left up to his good-for-nothing father who continued to dispute with the court arranged situation. Slowly, over time, his father was slowly cutting down the amount of money he had to pay.

Fortunately, one of Duo's favorable traits was his thriftiness. He always knew that the money wouldn't last, always knew how much of a jack-off his father was despite the similarities between the two and the DNA testing that only confirmed it.

Everybody else was so lucky to have a family. He would give anything to have that.

After enjoying a small meal made of cold cereal, Duo readied himself for school and headed off, wondering what kind of tortures Wufei and Heero were plotting to make his life even more miserable than it already was. What was it that made Wufei hate him so? Perhaps that was a question that would never be answered, no matter how many times it was asked.

It didn't take long before he saw that forbidding sight of prison…eh, school. He was back. Whoopie. Maybe he could catch up with Quatre soon. Hopefully Trowa wouldn't be there so he ended up being the third wheel again. He didn't have anything against the unibanged teen but sometimes he just wanted some attention too.

Oh great, he was early today. Another round of applause. Okay, maybe he wouldn't be ambushed today. Still, why take chances? Making his way down the nearly empty hallways, he reached his locker without incident.

The sight waiting for him today was the last thing he expected. Quatre was already here, which was unusual, but Trowa was at his side, though it was noticeable that he had been sick. There was a third person who was silent and leaning against the lockers like he owned everything. It was obvious that he was not paying attention, ignoring, whatever, to the couple beside him.

Duo had never seen the blond before and he was admiring that long mane of blonde hair that the stranger had when a thought occurred to him.

Wait, was Quatre replacing him? Oh please God, let it not be so! Quatre was his only real friend in this world and to lose him would be disastrous.

So, sucking his worries up and hiding them away, he composed himself and walked over, despite the fact that he wanted to run away from the scene as much as possible. He was only a few feet away when Quatre surprisingly caught sight of him and welcomed him. That was odd. Whenever Quatre was with Trowa, his whole world revolved around him.

"Hey, Quat!" he greeted. "Hey Tro! You feeling better?"

Much to his surprise, Trowa answered him. "I'm doing much better. Thank you Duo."

Okay, what was up? Was this make a fool out of Duo day? Why hadn't he been notified about this?

"Duo, let me introduce you to my cousin," Quatre picked up. "This is Solo. Solo, this is Duo Maxwell, one of my best friends."

The tall blond opened his green eyes and looked down at him, literally. "He's small," was the only thing that the blond said.

Bristling, Duo retorted, "At least you don't hear me complaining about hitting the ceiling, Tree Trunk!"

This earned a snort of amusement from the blond who pushed himself away from the lockers to stand before the braided one, his height greater than it was a minute ago. Hell, Duo just barely faced the guy's chest for crying out loud! This was so unfair! Was he always doomed to be puny? And to add insult to injury, this Solo guy ruffled his hair up and _chuckled_.

"Ya got spunk Kid."

Duo growled. "Don't call me Kid, Bigfoot!"

"And don't you know what they say about people with big feet?" Solo shot back.

Oh, this guy was good, real good. He could see Quatre flushing a bright red and Trowa was stifling some laughter. No way. That does it. This guy is going down!

Quatre must have caught the gleam in eye because he began to cough quite loudly, getting the others' attention. "Um, what classes do you have Solo? I can show you around if you want."

Not bothering with a verbal answer, the blond held out the sheet of paper to Quatre that held the information. Quatre frowned as he read it, commenting with, "That's not good. We only share two classes!"

Duo, his curiosity unable to withstand being out of the loop, moved and took a look at the schedule. His eyes widening, he exclaimed, "That looks like my schedule!" Suspicious that Solo might have taken it off his person somehow without him knowing, it was dissuaded by the fact that Solo's name was printed on it in bold.

"Wait," Duo said. "Your name is Solomon?"

Solo growled. "Call me that again and I'll pound you into the ground."

Duo snorted. If this guy thought he could be beaten up easily, he had another thing coming.

"Now, now guys," Quatre intervened. "Since it seems that you share the same classes with Solo, why don't you show him around?"

Since Quatre was giving him those "eyes" of his, Duo couldn't find it in his heart to refuse. "Sure, okay, stop looking at me like that, I'll do it."

"Thanks Duo!" Quatre exclaimed, wrapping him in a bear hug and squeezing tightly.

"Yeah, no problem," Duo wheezed. "Now can ya let go? I need to breathe too!"

"Sorry," Quatre apologized, smiling sheepishly. "We got to run. Don't let Solo get into any trouble."

Before Duo could respond to that, the blond was off, his unibanged boyfriend in tow, leaving just him and the new blond on the block. Glancing up at the uninterested teen, Duo grumbled, "You coming or not? Don't have too much time to stand around, you know."

Solo gaze was still focused in the direction of the now nonexistent Quatre but that didn't stop him from saying, "Kinda pushy, aren't ya?"

"No, not most of the time," Duo replied. "I've just never been in the position of showing the new kid around."

"Huh."

As Duo began his trek down the hallway, his braid trailing after him, he heard the footsteps of his companion behind him though this new guy was a bit more sedate in his pace. Could someone really be this cool about being in a new school with new people? He shouldn't get use to this; it was only a matter of time. Once Wufei caught sight of the guy, he would do anything and everything in his power to become friendly and pull Solo away from him.

It wasn't as if it was the first time it had happened. He kinda liked being in the presence of another. It was addicting having somebody depend on you. No really, it was.

He didn't bother showing Solo everything, just pointed out the more important places, such as the cafeteria. Wherever he pointed, green eyes would follow before turning back to the braided one, the bored look still housed without.

Duo entered the classroom of his first period, earlier than usual, and sat down at his desk. English…why the hell was it a subject anyway? He could speak it just fine! It wasn't as if it was some foreign language or anything.

The tortures he had to put up with.

"So this is the first class?"

Oh, he almost forgot. Solo was still here. That was right. Damn, how could he have let that happen? Oh well, like it mattered. The hours (or were they minutes?) were numbered.

"Yeah, it is," he answered, glancing over at the blond. Frowning, he said, "You can't sit there."

"Why not?" Solo challenged.

"Somebody else already sits there."

"I can wait until they show up. I'm sure the teach wouldn't mind."

Looking over at the blond, whose eyes now contained amusement, Duo debated internally whether or not it was worth the effort to argue with this guy. The sound of the door opening distracted him but the people who came in held his attention completely.

Uh oh. Solo was a dead man. Here came the man killer herself.

Dorothy Catalonia.

It was nice knowing the guy. No really it was.

Dorothy was one of the most popular girls in the school. She was the type who got what she wanted, when she wanted it, and how she wanted it. Unlike other girls of her…caliber, she had an astonishing amount of patience and was willing to put it to use anytime. She was quite attractive, for a girl, but the one thing that kept Duo away from her like an anorexic from a buffet table were her eyebrows. They were just…weird, all forked and everything. He believed that they were fake but he was never willing to put that idea to the test.

And now she had spotted and set her sights on Solo. Damn, he felt sorry for the guy. And her current boyfriend…what's his face? Eh, she had so many of them that he lost count back in his freshman year. But at least she wouldn't dump the poor schmuck until after she hooked up with Solo. Always trying to upgrade…

"Hey, you're new, aren't you?" Dorothy greeted as she stopped in front of the blond, her personal entourage stopping behind her and waiting to observe their master in action. "My name is Dorothy Catalonia. Allow me to welcome you to our fine school."

Duo snorted at that. Dorothy heard.

"Don't pay this cynic any mind," she continued. "He's always in a bad mood. Anyway, would it be possible if you could give me your name?"

"Sorry, can't," Solo replied.

"Why not?" Dorothy asked, a bit down put.

"If I gave you my name, then who would I be?" Solo answered, producing a giggle from the female. (1)

Duo had to stare. This was the first time he had ever, _ever_, heard Dorothy Catalonia giggle. It was like seeing the Loch Ness Monster order a Big Mac from McDonald's.

"You have quite some wit," Dorothy commented. "Let me try this again. May I know your name?"

"Solo Winner," Solo answered, sitting back in his usurped desk.

Her eyes thoughtful, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to be related to Quatre Winner, would you?"

"Yep," Solo answered, looking bored.

"If I may be so bold," Dorothy continued, "would you grant me the honor of going out with you?"

Ah, there it was, and in no certain terms undiplomatic. Glancing at Solo, Duo awaited the answer that he knew was coming, the one that would begin the separation between him and Solo. It was nice while it lasted.

Solo examined the blond girl from where he sat. He seemed to ponder his decision before coming up with his answer.

"I don't date sluts."

It seemed everything stopped and all attention was on Solo right now, who looked like he could have cared less.

"Wh-what?" Dorothy stuttered, disbelief in her voice.

"Let me repeat that," Solo drawled. "I. Don't. Date. Sluts. Kapeesh?"

"What makes you think I'm something as lowly as that?" Dorothy demanded.

"Well, for one thing, I can see your make-up from right here," Solo answered. "You make yourself look pale but you look like the type of person that likes being outside and all your friends there have a tan. That jewelry you have on is fake, those nails are clip-ons, and while you talk and dress fancy, I saw the way you were walking. Moving your hips side to side like that. I've seen an old lady walk better _and_ sexier than you. So please, go somewhere else 'cause I'm not interested."

"Oh? And what would you rather do?" Dorothy demanded. "Sit next to _him_?!" At this she pointed at Duo. Now, that would have stung but Duo could have cared less. No, he was curious as to what this stranger would do next.

"Actually, yeah," Solo countered. "He hasn't made a false promise to me yet. Now, leave me and him alone. I need to talk with the teacher about something so run along and do whatever it is that you do when you're not bugging me."

Dorothy hmphed and turned away, obeying Solo's request. Her entourage individually gave him the evil eye before following after their spurned mistress.

Duo could do nothing more than stare at Solo.

All he could think was: did that really just happened?

(1) Take a wild guess where I got this tidbit. I'll give you a hint: it's one of old ShadowMajin's fics, and the guy's only got two of them. Take this as a tribute, SM.


	3. The Two Amigos

Author's Note: Since you guys seem to be enjoying this fic, I decided to update early. After conversing with a couple of you (i.e. Archsage Soren), I have found out that it seems I have taken up my own challenges, many of which are posted on my profile. I have spoken to a couple people who have told me they have accepted my challenges, I have yet to see anything come out of it so I am taking charge and doing at least one of the challenges myself. What kind of person would I be if I didn't do something that I was asking of all of you? Perhaps this will encourage others to make attempts at doing my challenges; well, only time will tell on that one. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language

The Two Amigos

It was barely lunch time and already the rumors had spread even to the farthest reaches of the high school social hierarchy.

The new kid had not only refused Dorothy's offer of going out, he had also insulted her to her face, and without remorse.

Wufei could have cared less about it. So what, somebody told Dorothy the truth. Big deal. If she had come to him, he would have done the same thing. Just somebody beat him to it, that was all. This rumor, though, had a different response on his best friend, Heero.

The Japanese youth wanted to meet this new guy, invite him to hang out. Perhaps he would finally get a friendly rival of sorts after much disappointment from previous ones.

The things he did to keep Heero happy. Well, he had to admit that he at least wanted to _see_ who this upstart was. If he was going to give him trouble later on, it would be best to be prepared. One could never be _too_ prepared, after all.

---

"You can't be serious!" Quatre chortled at the lunch table, trying desperately hard to not laugh his insides out. Trowa was having an easier time but his amusement was obvious.

"Have you ever known me to lie?" Duo countered from his seat across from the blond. "Ms. Eyebrows was steaming and her pets were giving your cousin that look, you know, the evil eye! I thought I would burst into flame and I was just sitting right next to him!"

"I've had worse," Solo commented, seemingly uninterested in the conversation.

"I've bet you have," Trowa replied, making a crack at the long haired blond.

Snorting, Solo replied, "If you only knew."

Duo was about to retort to this but something caught his attention. Instantly, his good mood vanished, replaced by a sour one. Both Quatre and Trowa caught this, both figuring out what it meant.

Approaching them from behind were none other than Chang Wufei and Heero Yuy. Of all the rotten luck. Now they would have to deal with them.

Not one for small talk, it was Heero who spoke first. "You're the new guy, aren't you?" he questioned. From having had no choice but to spend so much time with the presence of the guy, Duo, Quatre, and Trowa were able to detect a subtle difference in the Japanese's voice. He sounded…excited?

"Yep," Solo answered, sparing a glance.

"Is it true?" Heero demanded.

Raising an eyebrow, Solo replied, "Is what true?"

"Did you really turn down and insult Dorothy Catalonia?" Heero elaborated.

"Are you talking about the slut?" Solo answered. "If that was her, then yeah, I did."

Heero grinned. Now, they were all used to Heero smiling slightly, smirking, sneering, and whatnot, but grinning? Actually bearing his pearly whites for all to see? It wasn't just a noteworthy event. It was creepy. Really creepy.

Heero may not have noticed everybody, except for Solo, moving slightly away from him but Wufei sure did and he acted to divert attention towards himself.

"It was very admirable of you," he praised. "Most of the students here would have leapt at the chance to date her and fallen to their weakness. I'm impressed."

"That's great," Solo drawled. "Is that all?"

"We would like to have the chance to get to know you," Wufei continued, ignoring the blond's comment. "Would you perhaps spend lunch with us?"

Here it was. Duo internally sighed. He knew this was coming. It always happened, right on schedule. It was just this time Wufei was being polite and diplomatic. Usually, he would have verbally abused him indirectly, convincing his target that he was the better choice of the two, but since Quatre was here, it seemed as if he was holding himself back. Still, why wouldn't Solo jump at the chance? Anybody in his shoes would.

"Nah, I like it right here," Solo answered.

"What do you mean?" Wufei asked, baffled.

"What I'm saying is that I like where I am now," Solo said, speaking as if Wufei was nothing more than a child. "I want to stay right here at this table, enjoying this fine meal that the old ladies back there prepared for me with my cousin and his boyfriend."

"I understand," Wufei began but Solo cut him off.

"And I like sitting here right next to this guy," Solo stated, his arm snaking out and wrapping around Duo's shoulders and pulling the braided one right up against him. Duo could swear he felt the blood rushing up to his face at this moment. "I think him and me will be the best of buddies."

Duo was fidgeting slightly. This had certainly never happened before. Not to him at least. In fact, he hadn't been in such a physical position in a long, long, _long_ time. Solo was emitting an enormous amount of heat. He was like a furnace! Plus that arm wasn't doing anything to make him comfortable.

Wufei's onyx eyes narrowed. "I see," he stated as he turned to leave. He left without another word, Heero remaining behind only to give Solo a dirty look before turning around and following after the Chinese teen.

Despite everything seemingly returning to its usual status, Solo had yet to relinquish his hold on the braided one, much to Quatre's interest.

The blond's inner matchmaker was reawakened, the mental cogs beginning to wind up and turn. Was he reading into something too much, making it much bigger than it was? Perhaps. Hadn't been the first time but this was different. He could feel it.

For so long, he had always been saddened by the sight of his friend, his best friend, being alone, without any companionship. It hurt to see that, hurt to see the loneliness, the feeling of being left out of something and everything that were displayed by Duo. At least he had Trowa and his family. What did Duo have? Nothing. Not even his own family wanted him. He hadn't met the two adults who had sired the young braided man and he couldn't help but feel resentment towards them.

So he had tried to set Duo up with somebody but not just anybody. He wanted the other to take care of Duo, be able to love every aspect of him. He had been so sure of the last one but it was too perfect. How could he have missed the fact that the other was of the opposite gender? She really did look like a guy! And she was straight to boot!

After that little fiasco, Duo had taken him aside and made him swear to Allah never to set him up with another person again. When he tried to argue, Duo had stated coldly that if he was destined to be alone, then alone he would be.

But he would not let that happen. Duo was like a brother to him. Hell, he was his brother, if not by blood then by fellowship.

But first, he had to make sure that Solo was right. He remembered his promise to Duo but he could not not meddle. If Solo passed his tests, then he would try and hook'em up.

"Is there anything to do around here?" Solo drawled out, providing Quatre with a means to begin his plan.

"What do you like doing?" he asked. Not only would he be able to learn about his cousin, he would be able to see if he shared any interests with Duo.

"The assholes around here are pissing me off," Solo answered with his ever charming speech. "Is there like a good gym around here or something?"

Frowning, Quatre asked, "Why don't you use the one at home?"

"Hey, just cause I have money doesn't mean I can't spend it," Solo answered. "If I want to give it to some so called fitness experts, than by God I will."

Quatre raised an eyebrow.

"What? You think Grandpa wouldn't have gone all the way? When he gave Dad up to the West, he made sure he had everything, including the religion. Doesn't mean I don't respect Allah but aren't they one and the same?"

Not wanting to get into a theological debate, Quatre turned to Duo. "Do you know of any places where Solo can go? If so, can you take him?"

Duo's eyes narrowed suspiciously and Quatre thought that the braided one was on to him. "Sorry, not today Q. Got tot go over to Master Deng's place. Need to get some extra spending money since the asshole is trying to cut back again."

Trowa remained silent throughout the exchange. He didn't know Duo too well. He did not understand what Duo just meant by that but he assumed that Quatre did since he nodded. Solo, completely out of the loop, was curious about what the braided one had just said but kept up his façade of boredom.

"Master Deng?" he questioned. "Who's that?"

"Runs a martial arts school," Duo replied, not even glancing at the curious blond nor answering precisely who this Deng was. But nonetheless, he pursued his apparently uninterested questions.

"Martial arts? Like kung fu?"

"No," Duo scorned. "More like jujitsu and tae kwon do. None of that crap you hear about on the streets. I'm talking about the kind of stuff that can let you kill a guy."

"Kill, huh?" Solo repeated. "Can you prove it?"

"As if I ever killed a guy before," Duo grumbled. "You might want to ask Deng about it. He knows a lot and can give you the facts. Not just some of the stuff you see in movies or anime but the actual _facts_."

"Facts huh?"

"You don't believe me? Fine. I'll take you to him after school. That all right with you?"

"Got nothing else better to do."

"Don't you have any homework?" Quatre butted in. He liked where this was going but he was surprised at the speed in which it was happening. Though it just might be boys being boys and both were trying to outdo each other in some unknown competition, Solo was his responsibility…sort of, and he had to look after Duo as well.

"Don't sweat it," Solo answered, his green eyed gaze focused on Duo and Duo alone. "I can do it later."

Duo stared the other down but ultimately shrugged and turned back to his lunch. "It's your life," he simply said as he paused, remembering exactly where he was at the moment. "And can you please let go of me now?"

"I don't feel like it," Solo replied and tightened his hold on the braided one.

Duo growled under his breath, muttering to himself about arrogant, blond jerks.

---

There was definitely something different in the air when Duo entered his next class, Solo following after him. Duo wasn't blind; he could see the strange looks that the other students were giving him. The question was, why were they even bothering to look at him in the first place when they usually ignored him?

Even though he tried to hide it, Duo could tell that Solo was wondering about the strange layout of this particular classroom. Students were clustered around small tables that came complete with sinks and ovens, stools being the only seats for the students with the exception of the teacher's desk.

The teacher of this class was a laidback redhead by the name of Catherine Bloom. She was none other than Trowa Barton's guardian and she seemed to have taken a liking to him. She immediately gestured for the new kid to come to her while Duo sat down at his usual seat, a table that he and he alone used since nobody wanted him to be at their table.

He made good grades in this class, better than the rest for some reason. That meant when a big project came up, it was then when he became America's most wanted, doing most the work and insuring the group he was temporarily in a good grade.

With the ringing of the bell, everyone went to their tables as Ms. Bloom stepped up to the front of the class. This simple act gained the class' undivided attention since she was known to give out "extra credit" assignments that needed to be completed by the end of the week along with the usual classwork. This only happened a couple of times, but both were one too many times for the students.

"As you probably know by now, we have a new student joining us," Ms. Bloom said aloud to a silent room. "This is Solo Winner, and he will be with this class for the remainder of the year. Now, I believe I will sit you with…Mr. Maxwell over there."

She had no choice. Duo's table was the only one that had any room to accommodate any new students. Solo didn't seem miffed by this as he walked casually over to Duo. Grumblings followed him in his wake. Duo was now part of a "group," if it could be called that. Now they were all going to have to actually _work_. It was so unfair. Solo sat down on the stool right next to Duo, looking as if he hadn't a care in the world.

Sighing to himself, the braided one knew that this day just got longer.

"What is this class?" Solo whispered to Duo.

Smirking to himself, Duo whispered back, "Home Economics."

Solo's eyes widened to the size of saucers as Ms. Bloom continued. "Now that that's out of the way, let's begin with today's assignment…"

---

"Why the hell am I in a Home Ec. class?" Solo complained, at long last showing some sort of emotion other than indifference as they joined the rat race that was the crowd of students heading for their next class. "I'm not gonna need it anyway!"

Unsympathetic to Solo's plight, Duo replied, "Maybe you don't but to those of us who just happen to _not_ be rich, it will be a life saver. I've already put some of that stuff to use already."

"Huh?" Great, now Solo was showing confusion. He did it again, he got the blond to show another emotion. Was this a record? "Why are you using that stuff anyway?"

"None of your business," Duo answered. "Now come on, we got History next and one last class and then it's over."

"Damn it," Solo muttered. "So, what do I got to expect in this one?"

"Teacher's on her period and she gets _bad_," Duo immediately answered. "Whatever you do, do not, I repeat _do not_, piss her off. If you think the homework you've gotten so far is bad, you ain't seen nothing yet. Now c'mon and shut up."


	4. The Bigger They Are, The Harder They

Author's Note: The shortest chapter thus far but longer than my usual work, that's for sure. For once, I am actually introducing an OC that is not evil whatsoever, almost a first for me. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language

The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall

It was a beautiful day for walking and that was precisely what Duo was doing as he moved down the street.

The only thing that could have been better would be if he hadn't had a certain blond attached to him at the moment, following him around. Still, he couldn't complain; at least he had somebody _willing_ to be in his presence. It was a more welcomed change than anything. But he couldn't take the silence; he was a social being and he needed to converse. The closest he had gotten with this guy was when he was complained about the Home Economics class.

He could have sworn then that this Solo was like an ordinary person.

But of course, he just had to go back to that "I'm too cool for this" attitude.

Well, just he wait. If there anybody who could not only command respect but wield it as well, it was Xihong Deng.

He was a relative of none other than Chang Wufei himself; how that was possible, he didn't quite know. He knew the man was Wufei's uncle, his mother's brother to be precise, but it didn't explain how their attitudes were so…different.

While Wufei was righteous and completely into himself, Deng was more friendly and tolerant of others. It was the respect he gave to others that seemed to make him the black sheep of his family, both his blood relatives and in-laws. It was as if the family had a genetic disposition of having a stick shoved up their asses.

Scratch the stick, it was the whole tree.

Not Deng though. He somehow managed to escape that fate.

And here they were. Duo smiled fondly just at the sight of the building. It was his home away from home, the one place, with the exception of Quatre's place, that he felt wanted and accepted.

Solo noticed the smile but said nothing about it, intent solely on watching it. There was something about it that he couldn't put his finger on but there was something, that was for sure. But what could it be?

Without further ado, the braided one led the way into the building, his smile widening as he caught sight of one particular person.

He wasn't the biggest person nor was he the most memorable. Though his hair was beginning to thin, it was still as black as it had been in his youth. His skin was a golden hue that one can only get from spending a lot of time outdoors it covered a well-built body that was used to exercise. He wore a simple white gi and black cloth belt, his feet bare as he padded down on the landing mats, setting up for his next class.

The man was none other than the owner and operator of the martial arts school, Xihong Deng.

Just the sight of this small man was enough to put a large glowing smile on the braided one. The small man just happened to look up towards the two teens and soon had his own small smile, his dark eyes glowing.

"So what do you have for me to do today?" Duo greeted, approaching the Asian man.

"Go get changed. Since you're here, I could use an assistant for today's afternoon lessons," the Chinese man answered. Glancing behind him, he noticed Duo's blond tagalong and he raised an inquiring eyebrow. "It seems you brought a guest with you today."

"Oh yeah, sorry about that. This is the new guy at my school, Solo. He had nothing better to do and followed me here. He wants to know a bit about the facts of martial arts and such."

"Is that so?" Deng replied, taking a closer look at the blond teen.

Solo shifted his weight to his right leg uncomfortably as the dark eyes focused on him.

"Go change, lad," Deng said at last. "I'll have a few words with your new friend here."

"Sure," Duo said. "Go easy on him." With that said, Duo promptly left to enter the moderate changing room, leaving the martial arts master and the blond teen behind to spend some quality time together.

It didn't take him long to change into the standard gi and cloth belt. Secure in the knowledge that his stuff was safe in one of the lockers, he returned back to the main room just as the other students were coming in and heading for the locker room to change and get ready for their lessons. And what a good opportunity this was. He would be able to let out a little steam and let his mind get focused while he helped Deng out.

What could he say, it was a win-win situation.

---

There wasn't a lot that shocked Solo Winner. He had seen a lot in his young life and since he came from a rich family, he got to see more things than the average person would.

Yet, he would never have expected for Quatre's friend, Duo, to be able to break a cinder block with his head and stand there like nothing had happened.

He had heard from somewhere that if you hit your head hard enough, you killed brain cells. How many did that Kid kill? He seemed to be all right. And then there was that old man, the master of the place. What was he? He hadn't seen anybody move that graceful except for ballerinas.

He knew that for a fact, quite intimately.

He knew he could have left at anytime and gone home and yet he remained where he was, even after the kung-fu students or whatever they called themselves left and the braided kid was wiping down the floors and such.

Why was he still here? Maybe he wanted more of the kid's company or something? That was probably it. Or was it because he intrigued him? There was so much about him that remained a mystery and he wanted to find out what it was. Who actually used Home Ec. classes except for girls? And what was all this about earning extra spending money? He could probably understand if his parents were trying to shave off his allowance but he had yet to mention either of them. Someone always asked him about his parents then tell him about theirs. It was a repeating pattern that he had gotten used to.

But this guy, Duo, hadn't done any of that.

In fact, he was just treating him like an average Joe. No one had even done that before. It was kind of nice to tell the truth. The Kid wouldn't back down. That was a challenge, no matter how discreet. It was something he was determined to win.

That is, once he figured out what the challenge was.

Male pride, what could he say?

So he waited for him to get done first. He wasn't in any hurry. Why would he want to go back to his uncle's house anyway? However, those thoughts vanished at the sight of shock on Duo's face. He managed to keep a grin from coming out and focused on a looking bored. He hoped he was doing a good job at it.

"You done?" he drawled out as he continued to lean against the wall.

"Why are you still here?" Duo blurted out. "You didn't have to stay here the entire time! You could have left!"

"Didn't feel like it," he answered, enjoying Duo's surprise.

"Didn't feel like it?" Duo repeated before shrugging. "Your time. Do whatever the hell you want with it."

"Damn right," Solo agreed, keeping his eyes on the braided one as he left the building. Without a further glance back, he followed the brunet.

"And why are you following me?" Duo drawled as he continued to walk.

"Just curious," he answered.

"About what?"

"None of your business."

"Hmph!" Duo grumbled as stopped. "Well if it's none of my business, why don't you go on your jolly way home before I beat it out of you?"

"Ain't going to happen," Solo replied, coming to a stop as well. "I can do whatever the hell I please. It's a free country. Besides, you're too short to beat me up."

"Don't tempt me," Duo growled.

"Tempt you to do what?" Solo teased. "Hit me then fall in love with me? I know I'm sexy so it wouldn't take too much effort."

Okay, that was it. This guy was going down and this time, there was no one to save his ass. His movement was quick, his leg striking out like a snake. The next thing Solo knew, he was laying on the concrete sidewalk looking straight up at the evening sky, his chest throbbing, and a dirt imprint of a shoe on his shirt. Balancing on one leg, Duo lowered his outstretched one to the sidewalk.

"That," he spoke when Solo continued to lie on the ground. "I warned you, didn't I? Sleep on that for a while and maybe we can have a civilized conversation tomorrow. Now go get your pansy ass back to Quatre's."

Without another word, the braided one turned his back on the floored blond and continued on his trek home.

---

Quatre couldn't help but chuckle as he patched up his cousin.

Instead of coming through the front door, Solo had come in through the back and snuck up to Quatre's bedroom where he commanded him to fix him up. The blond at first would have refused until he saw the telltale sign of a shoe having impacted Solo's shirt and chest. Prying the story out of the other blond was another matter but he couldn't help but laugh at it.

It seemed Solo managed to irritate Duo enough to where his braided friend struck back, physically. Telling from how dirtied the other blond was, Duo must have floored him. It was no secret that Duo practiced martial arts, if only to keep the bullies away, but no one seemed to be enough interested in Duo's life to know that.

There he went again, worrying over his best friend again. But how could he not worry? Duo had spent most of his life alone, without anybody to care for him as much as he needed. He did not need to be socially outcasted by the rest of the school. It was just adding one more thing to Duo's plate and Quatre would be damned if he let his best friend fade away.

So whenever Duo actually beat somebody up, Quatre refrained from worrying over his victim since it was just a way for Duo to let go of some anger.

Who the hell were Duo's parents anyway? How dare they do this to their only child!

But he was digressing. The matter at hand was the ranting Solo who seemed pissed that he wasn't taking his side.

"And why the hell are you giggling like that?!" the blond demanded. Hey! He didn't giggle! Only girls did that!

"I'm not giggling," he defended. "I'm just…enjoying the fall of a mighty warrior, laid down by someone smaller than he is."

"Ha ha, just laugh it up," Solo grumbled.

"Why were you following him anyway?" Quatre asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I was curious."

"About what?"

"Where that Kid lives and all."

"No wonder he hit you," Quatre murmured.

"What? What do you mean by that?"

"He doesn't let anybody know where he lives," he explained. "I don't even know where he lives. He's never invited me and I only asked once to go. I've never asked again since it upset him."

"So you've never met his parents?"

"Nope."

"Huh."

"It's best if you don't bring it up," Quatre advised. "I think he's just trying to keep bullies from following him home or ambushing him when he goes to school."

Frowning, Solo replied, "I don't think that's it."

Hoping to move on to another topic since he was getting a little bit uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed, he asked, "So you going to stick with us tomorrow or go do your own things?"

That seemed to get the blond out of his musings and caused a smirk to form on his lips. "I think I'll stick around for a while. You know, get to know my cousin's friends a bit better."

Quatre was not dumb; he saw through the words. Solo was curious about Duo and he wanted to know more. Well, he wasn't going to stop him.

At least Duo would have some company for sometime.


	5. It All Goes Downhill from Here

Author's Note: In a reply to one anonymous reviewer named "**Paul**," I'd like to say while I know where you're coming from and am sorry that you are disappointed with my fic, there is a reason as to why I didn't put the information you requested in my summary. Telling everybody that there is a specific pairing or that certain characters are going to be "bastardizied" ruins the story, in my mind at least. You'll be expecting certain things to happen and that limits my options of how to proceed with the fic. I'd rather prefer to surprise you with unexpected twists and what not than to hold your hand and tell you this is what the story is about and this is what you need to know about it before you read it. Summaries are only suppose to be short attention getters that give a vague description about the story and nothing more. If you don't like how I do things, tough, deal with it, don't waste my time, just hit the back button and leave if you don't like it. I'm not forcing anybody to read my stuff. Besides, take a look at the summaries for my other fics. I never mention pairings in my summaries and I'm not going to start now.

As for the rest of you, discard the previous paragraph. I apologize if you were put off or offended by it. So, without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, slight shounen ai

It All Goes Downhill from Here

As it always happened, the sun returned, its incessant light somehow making its way through the defenses that he had put up to protect his slumber, and assaulting his closed eyelids. His emergence from unconsciousness to awareness was slow, admittedly, but for someone who valued their sleep, it happened all too quickly.

After the usual curses and damn-you-to-hells, Duo was once again eating a breakfast consisting of cold cereal and that was pretty much it. Sometimes he wished that he could sleep forever. At least in his dreams, the world was kinder, even if it made no sense most of the time.

But no, he had to drag his ass out of his warm, comfortable bed and get himself ready for the prison life that he knew as a student. Huh, why did it seem he was forgetting something? It was on the tip of his tongue and yet he couldn't pick it out…

It was so infuriating. He hated it when something like that happened.

Next thing he knew, he would be shouting it out in the middle of class.

And it would be his luck too.

Oh well, as if it would hurt his "reputation" anyway. Oh wait, what reputation could that be? Hmm. Now that was a good one. He'd have to bring that up to Quatre someday as a joke. Then again, it probably wouldn't be a good idea since the blond would start a one-man campaign to make his life "better."

At least Quatre was trying to do something about it. That alone spoke volumes about the Winner boy. But his life wasn't going to get better and he knew it. The only thing that might be able to do so would be to get into an Ivy League college or some other expensive one. That would really piss off the asshole a lot, having to actually shell out some money for his educational expenses, and not the cheap public school kind either.

Well, one could dream.

Oh goodie, he was back at prison again. He was so happy to be here again.

You can see the sarcasm dripping from that can't you?

Okay, trudging down the hallways, reaching the lockers with no trouble. Seems to be that Wufei and Heero aren't here yet. Unfortunately, Quatre wasn't here. Most likely with Trowa no less.

"Good morning Duo."

He nearly had a heart attack as he whirled around to be greeted by the sight of Trowa Barton. Damn it, he hadn't heard him coming! How the hell did he get behind him anyway? Well, he had to say something. It would be rude if he didn't.

"Morning, Tro," he managed, still getting his heart back to its normal beating rate. "This is certainly a first. I think that's the first time you said hello to me first before I did."

"It certainly is," Trowa replied calmly though Duo could see the twinkle in the unibanged one's eye that he had gotten some sort of pleasure from scaring the living crap out of him.

Wait…was Trowa up to something? Had Wufei and Heero gotten to him too? Why should he care? It wasn't as if he and Trowa were the best of buddies. They hardly talked anyway! Still, he should enjoy it while he could. These things happened once every blue moon, which is to say almost never.

"So, where's Quatre?" he asked, trying to be conversational.

"Hasn't arrived yet," Trowa shrugged.

Duo felt his heart drop a bit. Ah, so he was a last resort. Still, it was better than nothing. It was better to be a last resort for socializing than to be not acknowledged at all.

Hell yeah he'd be a last resort any day.

"What do you think is keeping him up?" he asked.

"That's a good question," Trowa answered. "I might have an idea but I'm not completely sure about it."

As if that told Duo anything except that Trowa was clueless. Okay, now what else could he get out of the unibanged teen before his attention was diverted permanently to a certain blond? And he could think of nothing to say. Of all the times…

"Good morning Trowa! Good morning Duo!" came the perky voice of Quatre as he paused to give Duo a small hug before romantically assaulting Trowa. Did the school allow the students to make out in the hallways? And with tongue? Eh, it was Quatre involved so they were probably afraid to do anything about it.

"Miss me?" breathed a voice near his ear.

It was at that moment that Duo realized what he had forgotten that morning.

Solo.

Now how could he forget about him after yesterday? Then again, he did beat the taller, stronger looking teen with a single kick. If that didn't say "piss off" then he didn't know what else did. Of course, he had hoped that it hadn't been taken that way and it seemed that some higher power was going to be kind to him this time around.

"Depends on how you mean it," he replied dryly.

"How do you think I mean it?" Solo countered.

Turning his head to look at the blond, he raised an eyebrow at this sudden change in behavior. Yesterday he had been in that "I'm cool and tough so don't mess with me" mood and today he was being so aggressive, so unlike yesterday…

"You are a guy, right?" he asked seriously.

Solo actually blinked in confusion. "Of course I am. I have the equipment. Why do you ask?"

"The sudden change in personality reminds of a chick with PMS," Duo answered dryly. Pausing, he added, "Ms. Noin being the exception."

If Solo was offended, he didn't show it. "Aren't we just the best of buddies?" he teased, making Duo really question Solo's masculinity.

Watching the whole display with amusement were none other than the two love birds themselves. Quatre couldn't help but smile brightly at the sight while Trowa had his lips curved upward with amusement. Quatre's spirits soared as he watched his best friend converse. This is what he had wanted to see. He had wanted Duo to actually be with someone who listened to him, albeit Solo was probably ignoring most of it anyway. Still, there was this gleam in those violet eyes, one he hadn't seen since they began high school. It made him feel slightly guilty when he recalled focusing more on Trowa whenever the two were in the same space. He would resolve that he would pay more attention to his braided friend and give him the support he was sorely lacking.

Unbeknownst to the foursome, other pairs of eyes were also watching.

One of such belonged to Dorothy Catalonia whose blood boiled at seeing the blond so close to the braided misfit. Still, it made this Solo even more attractive. He was the forbidden fruit, a challenge that would not be overcome so easily. It would take more than just using pure physical attraction to gain Solo's attention. Something more subtle would have to be used instead.

And she knew exactly what that was.

Two other sets belonged to Chang Wufei and Heero Yuy.

Wufei was displeased at seeing someone conversing so easily with Duo. That braided moron didn't deserve such interaction, not after what he had done to him. This little budding companionship would be dealt with in all due time. Maxwell should have learned by now that he was truly destined to be alone, to never know the warmth of human comfort. He would forever pay for he did to him, he would make sure of that!

Heero on the other hand was still enamored by the gall of this new kid. It just made him even more desirable to have, not that he was even thinking of replacing his Chinese friend. No, the seeds of a rivalry had been planted and Heero wanted to not only know more of this guy, he also wanted to know what kind of stuff he was made of.

But first, that braided idiot had to go.

The last, but not least, pair of eyes to watching the interaction belonged to a skinny old man dressed in the most God-awful hula shirt known to man. Unlike the previous pairs of eyes, his thoughts on the sight were more positive. It had been quite some time since he had last seen the braided one in such a good mood. Just for a few moments, the kid looked like a male version of his mother. Thank God he barely had any physical attributes of his father.

But he couldn't help but look at the tall blond beside him with suspicion. Just because he had a pretty face did not mean he wasn't an asshole. His duty first and foremost was to look after Duo and protect him from all threats, including himself. He'd figure out who this newbie was and make sure that no harm came to the braided lad.

He had failed him once. He would not allow it to happen a second time.

---

Ugh. If he had to spend one more minute in this stupid English class, he thought he would go on a murder spree.

Hopeful green eyes glanced hopefully at the class clock, only to lower in hopeless dismay as it showed they were nowhere near the end of this dreadful class. He had to get out of here, while his sanity was still intact. But how? Hmm…that hall pass over there looked tempting. But he didn't need to go to the restroom at all! Wait, what the hell was he thinking? He didn't have to tell anybody _that_.

Keeping his evil intentions to himself, a few minutes later found Solo Winner strolling down the hallways of the school, spinning the hall pass around his finger, whistling a tune from something he did not recall at the moment.

What could he say, he was a genius. Truly diabolical. Now no one else could use the pass to get out of that torture session! Still, he was willing to sacrifice their welfare for his own. Should he have taken that Kid, Duo, with him? Nah, he still owed him from yesterday. Still it seemed a bit hollow and Duo probably wouldn't take it seriously so he would have to think of something else.

Well what do you know? There was the restroom right there! Eh, why not go in, fool around for a few minutes, then return and explain that he had to go number two instead of one?

By God, he was truly a genius.

Then his luck soured.

As soon as he entered the restroom facility, he was met up with none other than that guy from yesterday…what's his face? He recognized that mop of unruly brown hair but other than that, nothing else came to mind.

The other teen smirked. "I was just thinking about you," he stated in that strange monotone voice. "I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot yesterday, even if I don't know how we did. My name is Heero Yuy. What might your name be?"

"Just call me Solo," he stated, wary of this guy, Heero. There was something wrong, not right with the guy and he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Solo eh?" Heero commented. "Well Solo, I feel bad about yesterday even though I don't quite know what we did to distance you from us, I would like to make it up to you. How about you have lunch with Wufei and me today? There is so much we could talk about with one another."

It sounded reasonable. Hell, anybody would have taken the offer. It was that sincere. But Solo always went with his gut and his gut was telling him to say no. What could it hurt though, just having lunch with two fellow students? He was going to be stuck here for a while anyway. Then again, there was his gut…

"Can I think about it?" he asked.

Heero chuckled. It was not a sound that put Solo at ease. "I'm asking if you would like to have lunch with us _today_."

Okay, the guy was coming on hard now.

When he didn't say anything, Heero seemed to lighten up a bit. "You were planning on spending lunch with Quatre and Trowa again, weren't you?"

He nodded slowly, not seeing the harm in it.

"You can have dinner with your cousin," Heero pointed out. "You don't have to hang onto his arm everyday. You are a big boy, aren't you?"

Solo's eyes narrowed slightly. "I don't see why you seem to care about what I do."

Heero seemed to have realized his mistake and tried a different argument. "I have nothing against Quatre," he explained hastily, "and Trowa is one of the best running backs on the team. Both of them are good guys, but it's who your cousin hangs out with."

Solo thought about what that meant. Wait, was he talking about Duo? "You mean Duo?" he asked, hoping to clarify who he meant.

"Yeah, he's a lowlife loser," Heero confirmed.

_Lowlife?!_ Who the hell did this guy think he was to say that about Duo?! He didn't even know him! Hell, he himself didn't know much about him but he knew he knew more than this jerk off did. Plus, Duo was one of Quatre's friends. Long before he came to this school, he had always heard about Quatre, how good he was and all that stuff. Whoever Quatre picked out to be a friend was trusted by the Winner family as a whole. Duo was Quatre's friend and he had overheard a few maids ask the smaller blond when "Master" Duo would be coming over to spend the night again. He hadn't heard much about the braided one but none of it was bad, at all. And here was this asshole badmouthing him behind his back! There was no way he was going to let that go by unchecked.

"A lowlife huh?" Solo repeated. "How would you know that?"

That seemed to have caught Heero off guard and the Japanese seemed to be trying to think of anything that he could say to prove his case. It was visible on his face for crying out loud! But Solo was not going to let him say anything else. He had heard enough already.

"I don't want to hear you say anything nasty about Duo," he hissed, startling the Prussian eyed youth. "You know nothing about him so you have no right to say anything. I may not know much about him but it's probably more than you do. Fuck off Yuy. I'm not going anywhere near you at lunch."

Without letting Heero get another word in edgewise, Solo spun around and left the restroom, searching for another to go to. Odd, he didn't need to go earlier but now he had to and there was no way he was going to let it loose with that asshole nearby.

Why did he say that about Duo though?

---

"What's got you in a bad mood?" Duo asked the moment he sat down with his lunch tray. Ever since Solo came back from his bathroom break in first period, there was something different about him. He seemed a bit…upset if that was the word. Due to having to get to class and do whatever it was that was required in each one, Duo hadn't mentioned the sudden change in attitude.

However, now that they were at lunch, Duo felt that it would be a good time to broach the subject.

"Why you ask that?" Solo drawled, not answering the question.

"You look a bit off," Duo answered.

"How do you know that? You've only known me for two days."

"You just seem a bit angry, that's all I'm saying. Did something happen?"

Solo took a good look at Duo, his green eyes boring into the braided one. Just as it seemed he was about to say something, someone else beat him to the punch.

"Is the braided rat here bothering you? If so, I can remove him from your presence."

Damn it all! This day had been going so well too. Where was Quatre, he should have been here by now! Probably playing tonsil hockey with Trowa in the janitor's closet again. He had no defense between him and the poisonous barbs that he knew were aimed at him by none other that Wufei, the snob himself.

"How's it going Wufei?" he sighed, once again making the attempt to seem nice, knowing that it wouldn't do him much good. Why did Wufei hate him so?

"Did you say something lowlife? That's what I thought," Wufei sneered, disregarding Duo's greeting.

Solo's eyes had narrowed at the word "lowlife." "I'm just fine, thank you very much," he snapped at the Chinese.

"Are you positive?" Wufei pressed, his contemptuous tone immediately switching to a more concerned one. "It seemed you were being annoyed. I only wished to relieve you of this…thing before you got too uncomfortable."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Solo stated. "Go away now, shoo, shoo."

"If you will pardon me," Wufei continued as if he didn't hear the blond. "Would you perhaps honor myself with your presence for today's midday meal? I would very much like to get to know you more."

Solo growled. "If you bothered to speak to your boyfriend, he would have told you the answer was no. Now leave me alone."

Duo frowned at the exchange. Was what up? Solo was certainly not behaving like all the others that Wufei had managed to steal away. In fact, the guy looked really pissed. He'd seen worse, for sure, but it seemed as if Wufei was oblivious. And lookie over there, the faithful Heero was making his way over. Where the hell are you Quatre?!

"At least allow me to remove this insect from your presence," Wufei said, obviously referring to him. However, that seemed to make Solo angrier.

"Go away asshole," Solo snarled. That hushed up the entire cafeteria. No one had spoken to Chang Wufei like that before. No one had dared to since he came from a powerful family. But now, this new guy was getting up in his face! Bets were being made to the outcome.

Meanwhile, Heero had come up from behind his friend but he wasn't looking at the Chinese or the long-haired blond. No, his sights were set on Duo and it was really making him feel uncomfortable. He had a bad feeling about it and Heero was very intimidating.

Solo glared at the two, his eyes now blazing. Duo had to wonder: why was he mad? No new guy he had been with had ever acted like this! He didn't know how to handle it.

"Care to repeat that?" Wufei casually asked though one could tell that the Chinese was anything but casual. His dark onyx eyes were also blazing.

Solo smirked then. "You think you're tough, don't cha? Do you really need Heero boy in order to walk all over me? I've seen and been in worse things, punk."

"And you underestimate me," Wufei growled.

"What's going on?"

That question came from none other than the missing-in-action Quatre, Trowa right behind him, the blond observing the situation coolly.

"Nothing," Wufei spoke as he left abruptly, Heero following after.

Quatre continued to frown at the two Asians' retreat before looking over at Duo. "Duo, you're wanted in the office."

Duo raised an eyebrow, now that the tense moment had passed. "The office? Am I in trouble or something?"

"Don't know," Quatre shrugged.

Sighing, Duo stood up and took his tray with him to dump in the trash. "I'll see you guys later then."

Not looking back, the braided one turned his back to the newly arrived couple and one angry Solo whose green eyes didn't leave him.


	6. Curiosity Killed the Blond

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, slight shounen ai, angst

Curiosity Killed the Blond

Duo grumbled to himself in annoyance, pissed off that he had to go to the main office because of something he hadn't, or at least sure he hadn't, done.

After being directed to one of the offices by the receptionist, he found out that the reason he was here was not because he had done anything.

The presence of the old man waiting for him was proof positive of that.

"Howard!" he greeted.

"How you holding up?" the old man greeted back as he wrapped the teen in a bear hug.

Duo only knew the man by that one name, Howard. He had been one of his mother's close friends. Out of all things, the guy was a lawyer and had been the person who had argued his mother's case when his father had contested her claims. It was through him and him alone that he had managed to get the current arrangement established by the courts.

"Eh, same old, same old," the braided one answered. "So what brings you here?"

"I wish I could say I was here just to check up on you," the old man answered, his voice growing more melancholy as he spoke. "I just got out of court. Your father's still at it and this time he managed to get the amount of child support he had to pay cut."

This really put a damper on his mood. This was just the icing on cake that was his day. First Wufei, now this? And it had started out better than most days…

"What can we do?" he asked anxiously.

"At this point, we can only wait," Howard answered glumly. "Your father's going to do whatever it takes to be rid of you. Best be careful. He might try and physically get rid of you."

"I understand," Duo sighed, "but it's not as if he could get away with it. He's the only guy who would be suspect in it. He'd be digging his own grave."

"That aside, we're going to have to find you another place to live," Howard stated. "The new amount of support will not be enough to let you stay at your current apartment unless you start buying less food. How about you move back with one of your mother's friends and start saving up all the money you can until you graduate? We both know the moment that happens, all payments stop."

"Yeah, I hear he's trying to move the date of graduation up so that it's sooner than later," Duo told him. "Most people don't know about that bit yet. The only reason why I know is that it's the fact that my father's involved. Why the hell is he doing this Howard? Why does he hate me so much?"

"I can't answer that for you kiddo," Howard said, patting the braided one on his shoulder. "I don't know how his mind works and the only comfort I can get out of this is that he will have to pay the piper, whether in this life or the next."

"That's a big comfort," he grumbled. Looking up at the elder man, he asked, "You think you can lend enough money for two months' rent? I think I'll be able to find a good place in that amount of time. I'll make sure I pay you back the money."

"Of course Duo," Howard told him. "But why not move in with me?"

"I don't want to be a bother or take advantage of your kindness," he answered. "You've done so much for me already and I don't know how I'll be able to pay you back, any of you back."

"You know that I don't want you to pay me back," Howard said kindly, "but if you feel that you absolutely have to do that, then make something of yourself and show your father up. That would be repayment enough."

"Even after all these years, I don't think I'll ever understand you Howie," Duo replied but gave the old man a smile.

"Well, I wouldn't be me if you did," Howard countered as he embraced the braided one in another bear hug. "You take care of yourself Duo. I'll try to see if there is something we can do about this."

---

When Quatre saw Duo in Noin's history class, he knew something was wrong. Duo seemed…down, not like his usual self. Whatever he had been called for back at the office must not have been good.

He made a mental note to himself to investigate the matter and not let Duo try and hide it away. His friend's life was hard enough as it was. He had to vent his frustration out in a way that didn't require him doing it physically.

At least it seemed Ms. Noin was back to her usual self. There was no menstrual period to worry about though she still happily gave out homework at the end of the class. After this, there was one last class to go to and he was already planning his ambush on his braided friend.

The tactic he would use was despicable but he needed to know what was on his friend's mind.

So, the moment the final bell rang, he was tracking down his best friend like a fiend possessed. Thanks to his cousin having the exact same schedule, he just needed to mind his cousin since Solo seemed to be stalking the braided one up close and personal. From what he had seen in History, Solo, despite trying to hide it, seemed a bit concerned about Duo. Perhaps they could double team and make Duo spill the beans.

Luck was with him today since Duo was waiting by the school gates, Solo only a few feet away, keeping a lookout for him. He didn't seem to be in the usual patient mood since he seemed a bit…annoyed by Solo's proximity. Well tough luck, he was going to have to endure it a little longer…

"Duo!" he called out and jogged the rest of the way to his friend. "Ya want to go get a snack or something?"

"I don't know," Duo answered warily, wondering if this was a trap.

"It's my treat!" he continued, hoping to hook the braided one.

That seemed to do the trick since Duo's eye twinkled. "Why pass up free food?" Duo commented as he bowed mockingly to him. "Lead on Great Blond One."

"Where's your boyfriend?" Solo asked, looking for the unibanged teen.

"Had a dentist appointment," he answered. "Left during the last period so it's just us, that is if you want to come Solo."

"Got nothing else better to do," Solo shrugged.

Some time later found the three teens at an ice cream parlor. If there was one thing that Duo worshipped, it was sundaes. Since he could afford it, Quatre let him get it while he treated himself to a vanilla cone and Solo ordered a chocolate one.

"Have I ever told you I love you Quat?" Duo always said that whenever he bought him a sundae. It was only proper for him to answer.

"All the time," he said, smiling indulgently as the braided one dived into his cold treat. That seemed to have cured Duo's odd mood but that still didn't mean he wasn't going to ask about it.

"So what did the office want?" he asked tactfully.

Instantly, Duo stopped eating. Now since this was a sundae he was eating, Quatre knew that it was something important. However, Duo's face hardened and he went back to eating, pretending to ignore the question.

Quatre met Solo eye for eye. Now, Solo had never seen Duo act this way before, but Quatre had. There was only one thing that caused Duo to act like this. It had something to do with his father. Duo had nothing nice to say about the man, not even when they first met. From what he had heard from Duo, he wanted nothing more than to cause the asshole as much pain as he could for putting his friend though so much. However, Duo never said anything about his mother, so he was kinda in a neutral area with her.

"You want to talk about it?" he pressed.

"No, I don't," Duo stated emotionlessly.

Quatre couldn't help but wince at that tone. "Are you sure you're okay?" he continued.

"Can't we talk about something else?" Duo snapped.

"We're just curious," Solo butted in. "I'm not gonna let it go until you tell me what's up."

"It doesn't involve you," Duo stated, his voice growing harsh.

"But aren't we _amigos_?" Solo asked teasingly.

"Don't press your luck," Duo said. "Remember what happened the last time you pissed me off? Just because we're here, surrounded by people, doesn't mean I won't kick your ass, Tree Trunk, so back off."

"We're just worried about you," Quatre pressed.

Without warning, Duo slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "Piss off," he snarled at both of them before shoving his way out of the ice cream parlor.

Quatre could only stare in shock at what had just happened. Never in all the time he had known Duo had the braided one ever erupt at him like that. He was stuck in a daze. However, the movement of Solo getting up broke him out of it.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Going after him," Solo answered. "Go back home. I'll take care of this."

With that, Quatre was left alone with two melting ice creams and an unfinished sundae.

---

Solo had to admit, for such a small guy, Duo could really move fast when he wanted to. In fact, the only part of Duo that he could follow was the long braid that slithered behind the teen.

However, chasing after Duo was not made easy due to the fact that it seemed the entire city was out and about on the sidewalks. Still, Solo used his height to his advantage as much as possible. He would wait until Duo became stationary before confronting him.

Besides, at least this way he would get to see where his braided acquaintance lived. Sure he hadn't known the teen long but from all that he had heard from him, it made him want to know more. He wanted to learn the answers to the mystery that was Duo Maxwell, his cousin's best friend. From what he knew, not even Quatre knew everything about him and they were close!

As he progressed, he noticed that they were leaving the more wealthy parts of the city, heading towards the more poorer parts. His eyes narrowed at that. Was Duo poor?

However, Duo didn't keep going into the heart of poverty. Instead, he turned a corner, sticking close to the middle class section of the city. He had to hurry before he lost sight of Duo and since there were less people about, he could move faster.

He had just turned the corner when he saw Duo on the other side of the street, heading into an apartment complex. Fortunately for Solo, the entrances to each apartment weren't internal. The doors to each one were on the outside and he was able to see which one Duo entered. Huh, up the stairs and the seventh door down… Kind of stuck out a bit since quite a few of the doors had some sort of decoration while Duo's had none.

Taking in a deep breath to compose himself, he made his way up the paint-peeling stairs and down the railed walkway to Duo's door. Letting himself fall into a casual posture that made it seem he had been there all along, he raised a hand and knocked on the door.

Lowering his hand, he waited patiently, knowing full well that the braided one had to have heard the knock. He was soon rewarded by the sound of a lock being slid open and the door being pulled back.

The expression of surprise on Duo's face was priceless. Solo would definitely remember _that_ look.

"What the—how the Hell—how did you find this place!" Duo demanded, flabbergasted.

Taking advantage of the surprise, Solo pushed himself pass the shocked braided one and took a look around the abode. There wasn't much to say about it, really. There was only a couch and a chair in what could be called a "living room," a small table next to a small kitchen and a hallway that most likely led to a bedroom. However, he wasn't going to go on an expedition of this place; he could save that for another time. Instead, he plopped down onto the couch, noticing the lack of quality it had. Still, beggars couldn't be choosers so he stretched out and laid back onto the piece of furniture, making himself at home.

He had to admit, from this angle, Duo looked really cute with that pissed off expression.

"What do you think you're doing?" Duo growled.

"Thought I'd visit and hang out with one of my friends," Solo answered smoothly.

"Well, I don't like my _friends_ visiting me here and if you wanted to _hang out_, we could have done that somewhere else," Duo snapped.

"But I wanted to see where you lived," Solo whined, knowing how it made him look.

Duo raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're a teenager? Well, you've seen where I live; now get the hell out of here."

"Don't wanna, too comfy," Solo replied as he snuggled back into the couch. Hey, this thing was more comfortable than it looked!

"Don't make me have to get rid of you by force," Duo threatened as he towered over the blond teen.

That's when Solo shot his arm out and pulled the smaller teen so that he fell onto him, surprise evident on his face. Wrapping an arm around the braided teen, Solo said, "Join me then."

Duo blushed as he found himself sprawled on top on the larger teen, his head resting on the blond's strong chest. He could hear Solo's heartbeat from where his head rested and Solo's stronger arm was holding him close. He had to admit, it wasn't too bad being in this position. He felt he could relax and fall asleep right here and now…

"Want to tell me what set you off earlier?" Solo asked. The blond felt Duo tense at the question and he tightened his hold on the braided one to ensure that he wouldn't escape him.

"First of all, that's private and second, it's none of your business," Duo answered stiffly.

"It is my business when you tell my cousin to piss off," Solo replied dryly. "Also, you've saying a lot of things that don't make sense to me and I want to find out exactly what they are so spill."

"Curiosity killed the cat," Duo retorted. "Or in this case, the blonde."

"I ain't a girl; I have all the right equipment to prove it."

"Would you like to become one?"

"Not interested."

"Then let go of me and get out!" Duo growled.

"Ain't happening," Solo replied and tightened his hold.

It seemed that took all the fight out of Duo. The tenseness that had been in the smaller body just vanished, leaving a boneless body that just rested on the larger one.

"What's it going to take to get you to leave this alone and go?" Duo mumbled.

"Tell me what's happening," Solo answered firmly though concerned about the sudden change in attitude. Just a second ago, the guy was on fire, now it was as if he had nothing. He didn't know him that well and he didn't think that this was how it was usually with the smaller teen but he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Duo buried his face into his chest though, a thing the blond hadn't expected and he began to wonder if he wasn't being too pushy about the subject.

"I'll tell you a little bit," Duo's muffled voice compromised. "Is that okay?"

Looking down at the braided one, Solo decided to let Duo off easy. It seemed this thing was taking a lot out of him and for some reason, he didn't want to push the guy over the edge.

This was something that was completely unlike him.

"It's okay," he agreed. "Start when you're ready."


	7. Stalkers in the Air Tonight

Author's Note: I have to give a shoutout to your Muses, Archsage Soren, they have been very generous to me lately.In fact, let me spread the love and ask the Muses to bless everybody who reads this. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, slight shounen ai, angst

Stalkers in the Air Tonight

Quatre had to steel his nerves as he set out to confront Solo later that night. When the blond had returned, he had seemed a bit distressed and quite tense. While his father hadn't noticed anything, Quatre kept sneaking glances at his cousin, wondering what could be going through his head. However, before he could corner him off, Solo had disappeared after dinner and it was only now, a couple hours later, that he had managed to track the blond teen down.

Right now, the blond seemed to be working off some steam as Quatre had found him in the home gym, working up a sweat while pounding at a punching bag. It was obvious that something was on his mind but what it was, Quatre was determined to find out.

As he drew nearer to the sweating teen, he was able to get a good look at his body. The only visible clothing Solo had on was a pair of sweats and some wrappings on his hands, but other than that, he was bare-chested. He had to admit that his cousin looked good right then and there. If he hadn't been in a happy relationship with Trowa, Quatre knew that he wouldn't have been able to resist rubbing himself against that strong, muscular, and sweaty torso, incest be damned.

Solo hadn't noticed Quatre's presence yet, leading the smaller blond to think that whatever Solo was thinking about, it was something deep. Exercising his patience, he sat down on a nearby bench and just let himself watch his cousin, waiting until the other blond noticed him.

He was almost disappointed when Solo finally did stop and notice him but held back his complaints as the blond took a seat next to him, wiping the sweat off his face with a towel.

"Something on your mind?" Quatre popped.

"That obvious, huh?" Solo replied, glancing at him.

Nothing else was forthcoming at the moment and Quatre began to wonder if he needed to partake in a more active questioning when Solo asked a question of his own.

"Do you know why I'm staying here?" Solo asked, looking straight ahead and not at Quatre.

To be honest, Quatre had no idea why Solo was staying with them. It was just something he had taken in stride, knowing that his father would handle anything that came up because of it.

"I don't know," was all he could answer. Was this what Solo was thinking about?

"I don't really know either, but I'd like to know," Solo continued, still not looking at Quatre. After a bit, Solo admitted, "Well, I guess I might know though."

"What's the reason?" Quatre prompted.

"Would you believe me if I told you I'm a bit of a problem child?" Solo answered, now looking at Quatre.

"A problem child?"

"I was a part of a different crowd back home," Solo explained. "Even though I haven't really thought about it, now that I look back at it, I guess they weren't the best people to be hanging out with. I just realized that today."

"Does this have anything to do with Duo?"

Solo's green eyes stared at him, piercing through flesh to look at his very soul but Quatre remained strong and continued to give look for look. He was almost certain that Duo had something to do with this. Solo didn't really seem to be acting like himself, at least from what he knew of the blond.

"He kinda put things in perspective for me," Solo sighed. "I guess I've really been taking things for granted. I'm lucky that I have a dad that does care about me."

"So he told you?" Quatre asked quietly.

"Not everything," Solo answered. "I know there's more that he's not telling. He even told me that it was only a little bit."

"I guess you know the same stuff that I know then," Quatre sighed.

Solo shot him a glance. "He told you about it?"

"Once, after I pressured him a bit," Quatre admitted. "If I went any further, he would have kicked my ass. I guess you know what's that like, right?"

"It was just a lucky hit," Solo grumbled, trying to hide his embarrassment at that comment.

"If there is really anybody who knows the whole story, I guess it would be Master Deng," Quarter voiced aloud. "I tried asking him about it but the guy wouldn't say a word. Told me it was for Duo to say and not for him to divulge."

"Seems like everybody seems to know but us, huh?" Solo speculated.

"Not everybody. I'm the only person at the school that knows as much as I do," Quatre explained. "If everybody knew, don't you think more of them would be sympathetic to Duo. To think of it, I never told Trowa any of it."

"Has he asked?"

"Well, no…"

"Then it's not your problem if he doesn't know."

"I guess…"

They both fell into a companionable silence, neither attempting to disrupt it since they were both deep in thought. They were both fortunate at being born into such wealthy with parents that cared about their welfare and took positive roles in their lives, not because it was obligation but because they simply wanted to. Admittedly, they saw less of said parents as they grew older but they were maturing, becoming adults in their own right. More were unfortunate, such as Duo, who didn't even have such comforts.

"What's up with that Wufei guy anyway?" Solo suddenly spoke up.

Quatre cast a glance at the blond. "Not really sure. When Wufei first came, he was tolerant of Duo, though he didn't bother to speak with him. He just started hating Duo one day. I haven't really figured out what his reasoning is but I've heard he's done terrible things to Duo and Duo won't tell me what."

Solo raised an eyebrow. While his cousin was telling the truth, he wasn't telling the whole truth. He knew more about the matter; he was just omitting certain facts. "What about that other guy, Heero? What's up with him?"

"Now that's an easy one," Quatre replied. "Ever since I first met him, Heero's been determined to be the best in everything. Duo said it once…what was it…that's it, 'to perfect perfection' or something like that."

"Why's he hanging on to Wufei's every word? They going out or something?"

"I've always wondered about that myself. If Wufei doesn't like something, then Heero doesn't like it either and he's more physical when it comes to his own bullying. I know that because he tried it on me once. Luckily, Trowa stopped him and that was the first time I met Trowa."

"Ah, so you fell in love with your knight in shining armor, huh?" Solo smirked.

"Don't laugh," Quatre mock pouted.

As if he was deliberately doing it, which he was, Solo laughed at his cousin, his laughter slowly becoming obviously fake. Quatre punched him in the arm goodheartedly to make him stop but Solo retaliated but getting him into a headlock and giving him a noogie.

"Say uncle!" the blond demanded, refusing to release his squirming victim.

"Let go!" Quatre protested, fighting against Solo's strong hold as best as he could, not willing to give in despite the knuckle that was digging into his skull.

"Not until you say uncle," Solo replied, not letting up with his physical abuse.

Despite being in such a position, Quatre could only wonder if Solo was serious about hanging out with a bad crowd. From his current antics, it was inconceivable. He seemed less like a bad boy and more like a good natured, teasing teenager.

Okay, enough with the moral thoughts. Time to get out of this. While Solo was physically stronger than him, no doubt about that, Quatre knew his own little tricks. One of which was when he let his hand go down to a sacred place on Solo's body, causing the larger blond to freeze up.

"That's not fair!" Solo grumbled.

"All's fair in love and war and we certainly aren't in love with each other," Quatre said cheekily. "Let go of my head and I might consider sparing you."

Muttering obscenities, Solo complied and once Quatre was sure that Solo wouldn't retaliate, at least immediately, he freed the blond of his threatening hold.

"That was cheap," Solo stated, no trace of humor in his voice.

"All's fair," was all Quatre said as he stood up, leaving his cousin in a foul mood.

However, that mood didn't last long as a memory of a certain braided teen soon replaced the thoughts of what had just transpired only moments before.

---

Duo had woken up that morning, thinking that today was going to one of those days. He promptly forgot all about that when he found himself ambushed at his front door by the sight of Solo leaning against the wall right next to his door, looking as if he had been waiting there all night.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Duo exclaimed, disbelief all over his face.

"Thought I'd walk ya to school," Solo replied. "It's not far from here and I could use the exercise. So what are you waiting for? Lets get going!"

It was at that moment Duo began to wonder if it had been a mistake telling him all that stuff yesterday. If this was Solo's way of pitying him, then he could take a hike for all he cared. He didn't need anybody's pity! Though, it might be nice walking to school with someone at his side. Hadn't done that before. Still, he needed to be sure of Solo's intentions. He still was wary. Who knew if Wufei might have gotten to him behind his back and he was leading him into some sort of trap or ambush.

"This isn't because of yesterday, right?" he questioned.

Now Solo had the decency to look guilty. "A little bit."

Duo's eyes narrowed. "I don't need your fucking pity, Tree Trunk."

"Hey, I just thought you might like some company," Solo snapped, losing his composure temporarily.

"Fine," Duo sighed, not feeling up to getting into an argument this early in the morning, "you can do what you want. It's a free country."

"That's more like it," Solo grinned as he put his arm on his shoulders and pulled him out of his apartment, closing the door behind the braided one before escorting him away from the complex.

Duo managed to successfully hide a blush from the taller blond, unused to such a situation. Never had he walked with someone to school, least of all had someone put their arm on his shoulders so casually…and forget to release him. Not that he minded. He did, however, resist the temptation that nearly floored him to lean in and relax against the blond's larger body. If he guessed correctly, drawing back from yesterday's experience, it would be quite comfy using Solo as a vertical pillow.

"You okay? You're looking a bit red," Solo commented.

Oh crap. Get a hold of yourself Maxwell! Now's not the time to dive headfirst into thoughtless desire!

"I'm fine," he answered, noticing the slightly high pitch in his voice and wincing at it. If Solo noticed it, he didn't give any indication as he continued to escort him through the town.

If there was anytime that Duo intensely hated the sight of school, it was now. He was really beginning to enjoy himself and the mood killing sight of that imprisoning building was enough to slaughter the butterflies in his stomach. Wait, he had butterflies in his stomach? Damn it!

However, Solo didn't seem to give a sign that he was going to retract his arm anytime soon as he boldly ventured ahead with the braided one at his side. It was only when they got to the front gates that he realized the position he was in with Solo. This could not be good. As if he had read his thoughts, Solo's arm that laid casually on his shoulders tightened, as if telling him that he wasn't going to be letting him go free anytime soon.

And to make matters worse, somebody was waiting for them.

And no, it wasn't Quatre or Trowa.

It was Dorothy.

It was obvious that she had been waiting for them, or should he say Solo, for a while, though she tried to make it seem as if she had just got there. Her eyes fixed on Solo, glancing momentarily at where the blond's arm was currently located but nonetheless ignored Duo altogether. My, wasn't he the popular one today?

"It's nice to see you again, Solo," Dorothy greeted, her eyes only for the blond.

Now Solo's couldn't-care-less demeanor returned, his, by now, trademark bored look back in action. "You again," he stated.

"You remember me," Dorothy replied and Duo could tell from her eyes that that was enough to make her giddy.

"What do you want?" Solo asked bluntly, cutting straight to the chase.

"Whatever makes you think I want something?" Dorothy asked, feigning surprise.

"Last time we talked, you asked me out and I refused," Solo drawled.

"Is it a crime if I just want to get to know you better?" Dorothy countered smoothly.

"It ought to be," Solo muttered under breath. Duo had to reign in a snort of laughter. It seemed Dorothy hadn't heard that as she looked expectant, waiting for Solo to answer. "Well…" Solo began, looking as if he was thinking but Duo had caught that mischievous gleam in the blond's eyes and he braced himself for whatever Solo was up to. "You haven't yet said good morning to Duo here. He's my best buddy."

Duo caught Dorothy's eye twitch at that. The braided teen had to admit that the blonde girl had yet to actually greet him, at least in a civilized fashion. This must really be rankling in her keister. In fact, it looked like she was having trouble doing so as her mouth would open then shut, making her difficulty known to the two males.

"Dorothy! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"

Now whether that was divine or satanic intervention for Dorothy (it had yet to be seen) she was rescued by a fellow blonde, one Duo knew all too well. If he never saw the sight of Relena Peacecraft, it would be too soon! Ignoring both of them completely, Relena latched on to Dorothy and dragged her into the building, her mouth going off a mile a minute.

For once, Solo's bored façade didn't hold up as he was visibly staring at where the two girls had once stood. Looking down at him, his green eyes questioning, Duo decided to generously relive the blond of his confusion.

"That was Relena Peacecraft, the snobbiest, brattiest, prissiest, spoiledest, pinkest girl on the planet," he said before elaborating more on the subject. "If you think she going to be following you around because you've got a pretty face, guess again. She had her sights set on one person and one person only: Heero Yuy. She takes the image of a stalker to a whole new level. Unless your name is Heero, then you don't have to worry about her."

Solo simply nodded, taking in the description. Oddly enough, that seemed to be all the explanation he needed. Or maybe it was because his mind was stuck on a certain phrase that had come from the braided one's mouth. "…_just because you've got a pretty face_…" Did Duo just say he had a pretty face? Did he think he had a pretty face? He wasn't narcissistic or anything, but that was the first time he had heard anybody say that about him. Usually, it was "handsome," "big, tall, and dreamy," or "is it true what they say about big feet?" Never before had he heard anyone associate him with the word "pretty."

"You okay Tree Trunk? You know we can't just stand out here all day, much as I want too…"

Coming back to himself, Solo smirked at his short companion and escorted Duo (against his will) into the building. Because of the fact that Solo still had his arm on his shoulder, Duo's face was lit up like a red Christmas light. And that was what he looked like when Quatre spotted him at their usual morning meeting place.

"Are you okay Duo?" the blond asked worriedly. "You're very red."

As if that was some sort of magic spell, Duo's blush vanished instantly as he sputtered, "What do you mean red?"

Quatre looked confused but didn't voice his confusion. Sometimes it was best not to say anything and hope for the best.

"You sure you're okay?" Solo breathed into his ear. "I can take you to the nurse if you like."

Snorting, Duo shot back, "Don't expect me to let you walk all over me, Tree Trunk. Just because Dorothy and everyone else lets you doesn't mean I will."

"Dorothy?" Quatre asked. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"You haven't heard? She ambushed Solo at the front door, saying she wanted to get to know him better. Then Tree Trunk here got her into a corner by telling her to say good morning to me."

"Did she?" Quatre inquired, caught up in Duo's bit of gossip.

"Didn't get the chance. Ms. Stuck Up, Pink Princess saved her at the last second, probably trying to get her to help her get Heero's undying love or something like that."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Trowa commented, using up most of his word quota for the day.

"So what are you going to do about her?" Quatre inquired.

"Don't know yet," Solo answered.

"Well, you better think of something," Duo advised. "Dorothy ain't giving up on ya yet. She doesn't give up until she gets what she wants."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Trowa said.

"I'll get to that bridge when I cross it," Solo answered, despite Trowa's comment.

"Better think about it before," Trowa replied. "Dorothy is a very devious person when she wants to be."

"I'll keep that in mind," Solo stated dryly. "But first I got to get to class. C'mon Short Stuff, lead the way."

Duo sputtered at the new nickname as he was led away by the blond, the taller teen's arm still resting on his shoulders seeing as how it hadn't been removed yet.

Quatre couldn't help but smile at the sight. Perhaps there was really something there…


	8. To Be Thrown Away

Author's Note: You guys are pretty lucky. Archsage Soren's Muses are really blessing me on overdrive. Thanks for spreading the love, Soren. As a warning, don't expect quick updates like this in the future. I have less free time now that Spring Break is over. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, angst, violence

To Be Thrown Away

Duo felt a shiver run up his spine even as he concentrated on his English lesson. He knew damn well what had caused that shiver. It was real unfortunate that he just had to share his first period with Dorothy, the source of his ominous shivers. He could feel her furious eyes bore into his back and it was really distracting.

He knew this for a fact because he caught her glaring at him from her seat and she had made no attempt to stop when he spotted her.

Though he knew it was selfish of him, he really hoped that that glare was directed at Solo, who had continued to sit in his commandeered desk beside him despite that fact it was someone else's assigned seat.

Speaking of Solo, as usual, he looked bored out of his mind, barely concentrating on the lesson from the looks of it. There wasn't a shred of paper or anything that could be considered notes in front of him which might have contributed to the vision of the blond looking bored. However, every now and then he would catch the blond glancing at him and wink at him when he was caught.

If he didn't know any better, he'd think that the guy was trying to flirt with him.

Was he flirting with him?

He didn't get the chance to ponder further on such deep questions as the bell rang and it was time to go to second period. The good thing about this was that he didn't have Dorothy in his next class. The bad thing was…wait, was there something bad about second period? Oh yeah, science, physics to be more precise.

Oddly enough, he didn't have a real problem in that class. In fact it was a bit easy for him. Perhaps becoming a physicist was in his future? Nevertheless, the big reason he disliked the class was the teacher. The guy was a monotone. Enough said.

Solo was just a step behind him as he entered the classroom, heading straight for his desk. Since the guy didn't care where the students sat, it didn't really matter that Solo sat in the desk right next to him. He couldn't help but smirk to himself as the blond began to grumble, taking out papers to take notes on.

English was one subject but physics was something else.

Okay, that wasn't good. He had the need to go to the restroom and damn it, the bell just rang. Take it easy Duo, it's not the end of the world. Just ask for the pass and hope the guy gives it to ya! Why did this guy have to be one of the stingy teachers anyway?

He seemed to be in luck today since the guy was either in a good mood or something else was going on. Still, what did it matter? He was going to relieve himself and then come back. He was trustworthy, wouldn't abuse this privilege.

A few minutes later found him in the restroom, finishing up and flushing, going straight to the sinks to wash his hands. Hey, hygiene went a long way, farther than most people gave it credit for. Hearing the restroom door open and close alerted him to the presence of someone else but he dismissed it as something like that didn't concern him.

At least, that what he thought until he turned to dry his hands off only to run into the latest visitor to this fine public facility.

And no, it was not somebody he wanted to be in close quarters with.

You see, the person that was just standing right next to him happened to be Heero fucking-perfect Yuy and this guy did not look happy to see him. Or at least, that's what Duo hoped, especially when the jerk began to smile down at him creepily.

Still, he had to at least try to be nice to the guy. He was literally bigger, stronger, and maybe even faster than he himself was. Plus, the chances of anyone who would be willing to help him were practically nonexistent.

"Hey, Heero," he greeted, though his voice lacked any luster in it.

Heero snorted. "You're just the guy I've been looking for."

Seeing Heero's arms beginning to reach out towards him, Duo threw himself back to at least stay out of his reach. If this guy wanted to beat him up or something, then by God he'd make him work for it.

"What do you want Heero?" Duo snarled, giving up all pretenses of trying to be nice to the jerk as he readied himself in a fighting stance.

Heero smirked. "You'll find out."

As he expected, Heero lunged at him, massive hands attempting to grab hold of him. Since Duo was not able to maneuver well due to the enclosed space he was in, he backed up before landing a kick into Heero's gut, knocking the breath out of him but, unfortunately, not knocking him down.

Heero, however, had grabbed his foot and was pulling back, trying to make him loose his balance. That would have worked had Duo not decided to risk it and twist his body so that he landed a second kick at Heero's head. That was not a good move as Heero had relinquished his hold on his leg but that meant Duo had nothing to keep him from falling smack dab on the floor.

Which he did, by the way.

Heero, though, crashed into one of the toilet stalls due to the momentum from Duo's kick, his body crashing down onto the porcelain bowl inside. Heero was back on his feet in no time while Duo was just getting back onto his feet. The braided one tried to escape, having to run in front of Heero's stall to get to the door. He ducked under Heero's arm but the Japanese acted quickly and grabbed hold of his precious braid and yanking him back.

Duo let out a yelp of pain as he felt his hair being pulled back violently and the next thing he knew, he had a fist imbedded into his gut, knocking the air from his lungs. He soon found his body slammed against the stall wall then against the opposite one several times before his head was shoved down into the toilet.

He buckled his body, trying to get his head out of the toilet bowl and get much needed oxygen. Heero kept his hand pressed against the back of his head and flushed the toilet, giving him a swirly before allowing his head out. As he coughed, trying to get out the water that he had taken in, he felt Heero stomp his foot onto his back, making him collapse onto the tiled floor. A few more stomps and then a few kicks to his gut followed after before his beating was over.

Barely breathing hard, Heero spat at the fallen braided one. Glancing in one of the restroom mirrors, he scowled upon seeing a bruise growing on his cheek, marring his perfect complexion. Due to that, he was blinded to the fact that there was a dirt imprint of a shoe on his shirt, something he would not be aware of until somebody pointed it out to him later.

"Gutter trash!" he snarled as he vented his new found fury on his helpless victim, kicking Duo in his behind, causing him to smash his head up against the toilet's base. "Serves you right," he taunted as he turned and left to go to the nurse's office. There was no way he was going to admit that the loser landed a hit on him so he would have to humble himself and say he slipped on a wet floor or something.

Duo continued to lie where he laid, not bothering to get up. He was sore, he _hurt_, but it wasn't the beating that stung the worst. It was the words. He never thought that it would ever come down to this. But what made it worse was when someone else came in, saw him, but did nothing to help; just took care of their business and left.

A sob escaped him. He truly was pathetic. His life was a living hell, no one liked him, his father hated him… Why was this happening to him? Why did everything leave him or abandon him? What had he done to deserve this?

As the bell announced the end of the current period, he remained laying where he was, not bothering to get up.

* * *

Solo kept glancing up at the clock as the teacher continued to drone on and on about some guy's laws of motion or something like that, he wasn't paying attention.

Duo still hadn't come back from the restroom. Solo knew that it didn't take a person that long to do their business. Unless something was really wrong, like diarrhea or something, then Duo should have been back long before now. The teach didn't seem to notice Duo's absence though and if anything, seemed to be happy that the restroom pass itself was gone mainly because it enabled him to deny the other students the ability to go to the restroom themselves.

Solo also knew that they just wanted to get out of the class so they didn't have to listen to the guy. He was one of them.

His internal alarms were going off by the time the bell rang. Duo still hadn't returned. Guess this meant he was going on a rescue mission since he still didn't know his way around the place. He had always left that up to Duo to lead him to and from classes.

Just as he was walking outside of the classroom, he was intercepted by Quatre and Trowa. Since they all shared the next period together, they would "hang out" with one another till then.

Quatre perked up upon spotting him, greeting him with, "Solo! Seems like we're just in time! Hey, where's Duo?"

"Went to the restroom, hasn't come back yet," Solo answered, managing to keep his concern hidden for the meantime.

"That's too bad. How long ago did he go?"

Solo sighed, raising suspicions within the blond. "The beginning of second period."

It was Trowa who responded, a frown on his face. "And you say he hasn't come back yet?"

"Do you think he might be sick?" Quatre asked, worried.

"He seemed fine earlier," Solo stated as the trio began walking down the hall.

"Why don't we check and see if Duo's still in there?" Trowa suggested. "Perhaps he really is sick. If he's not there, then we can check the nurse's office later."

"Sounds like a plan," Solo agreed readily as he quickened his pace, eyes scanning the hallways for the nearest boys' restroom. Even though he didn't know the way around well, he damn well knew that restrooms were usually located near a water fountain. That always seemed to be the case no matter where he was… (1)

Locating the fountains was easy and sure enough, there were two restrooms on either side of them, one for the guys, the other for the girls. It was obvious which one Duo would be in and so Solo simply walked straight into it. He stopped immediately though. Something was not right here. Something was definitely off but he didn't know what. Proceeding cautiously, Quatre and Trowa behind him, he began to scan the restroom, looking for anything unusual.

It was when he peeked into the first stall that he froze, disbelieving at the sight he saw. There Duo laid, sprawled on the tiled floor, his hair wet, his face beginning to show swelling and slight bruising.

Without another moment's hesitation, Solo was on his feet and held the limp Duo against his body. Duo was still conscious but his eyes…his lively violet eyes were so dull… He knew this only because he was looking straight into the braided one's eyes, soon picking out the trails of dried up tears that had run down the side of his face.

What had happened to him? Maybe the more appropriate question was who did this to him?

He heard Quatre gasp upon seeing the state of his best friend and Trowa…well, Solo didn't hear any reaction from that guy but that was not his concern at the moment.

At the moment, Duo was his concern and he allowed his carefully crafted façade to shatter as he held the braided one against him. Then something dark in Duo's hair caught his eyes and after examining it, his eyes widened. He was bleeding! But how did that… Wait, he could see a small patch of dried blood on the toilet base.

For the first time in his life, Solo felt enormous fury and wrathful anger. Whoever was responsible for this was going to pay and pay dearly. The Duo that he had first met was strong and tough, refusing to let him walk all over him. This Duo though…he was weak, pitiful…even delicate due to how small he looked at the moment. Getting to his feet, he held the smaller Duo bridal style and was quite surprised to see how much smaller Duo really was. It only served to increase his outrage.

"Where's the nurse?" he growled, turning to face his cousin.

Without hesitation, Quatre nodded. "Follow me," he directed as he turned to lead the way.

Solo was completely oblivious to the sound of the third period bell as it rang while he crossed the threshold back into the hallway.

* * *

1. This is not just an observation of mine, it's a fact of life!


	9. The Tyranny of Hatred

Author's Note: I know you all have been waiting for this update patiently and I hope this will be able to appease you. Over three thousands words at last check so hopefully it will tide you over until the next update. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, angst, violence

The Tyranny of Hatred

Duo was aware of the activity that was happening around him but he didn't acknowledge it visually. Nobody cared what happened to him. He was only worth something when somebody wanted something. He had to admit though, the embrace he found himself in was very comforting.

He internally objected to being carried around like a puppy but he didn't vocalize it since he was tired of trying to please everybody. He just didn't care anymore.

It was all a blur now, the next thing that caught his attention was someone tending to his head wound. The disinfectant stung a bit but he took it without protest. What would be the point anyway? Someone was always messing with his life, trying to make it fit into their own without regard for him. Why resist if that's what everybody wanted?

Why hadn't he realized this sooner?

* * *

Solo was more than concerned over Duo's lack of response to everything going on. Despite all the questions and demands to know what had happened and who was responsible, the braided one remained silent, dead to the world around him.

He had no clue what to do about it or how to fix his friend. Huh, a friend? Well, Duo was certainly that if not a buddy. Probably the only one he had here that he talked with on a regular basis. Duo had never asked anything of him (except for yelling at him to not follow him home) or expected anything from. He seemed to care less that he was part of the prestigious Winner Family and treated him like somebody he was just a regular person. He could see why Quatre liked his company. Duo didn't pander, didn't try to suck up, expecting to get something by being nice.

He was just himself and that was something anybody like Quatre and himself hungered for. But now, he was just a shell of himself, a shadow of the once lively Duo Maxwell and he would be damn if he let Duo go without a fight.

That's what friends did for each other, right?

Moving into close proximity with the braided teen and kneeling before him, he asked tentatively, "Duo?"

No reaction.

Frowning, Solo gently turned Duo's head so that he could get eye contact. He had to force himself not to recoil back when those dead eyes captured him.

"C'mon Duo," he pleaded. "Snap out of it, will ya? We're worried about you."

Duo snorted. Even though it was a reaction, it still surprised Solo. Did Duo not believe his sincerity?

"What was that for?" he demanded.

No answer.

Sighing, Solo sat himself beside Duo on the flat nurse bed that the braided one was sitting on, said teen continuing to stare straight ahead. "Can you at least tell me what happened?"

There. If he hadn't been looking for it, he wouldn't have noticed the muscles in Duo's jaw clenching. It was a sign, Solo was confident. Duo was still in there. Now, all he had to do was pick at him some more. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Quatre was watching intently while Trowa was explaining to some school official or something what the situation was.

"How about you tell me who jumped ya?" he suggested. "I'll find their asses and beat the living shit out of them. Okay?"

Nope, nothing.

Keeping himself from tearing his hair out in frustration, he put his arm around Duo's shoulders and pulled him close. "What are you thinking about?" he muttered. "What's going on inside that head of yours? Don't you see you're freaking everybody out? We want to know what's wrong. Quatre cares about ya, Trowa…not too sure about him but he's here, isn't he?"

Still no response.

"You got me," Solo continued, desperate for something, anything, but not showing it. "Believe it or not, even though we haven't known each other long, you're my friend. My…best friend. The best one I've ever had since…ever."

Glancing down to see if his words were having any kind of effect, his eyebrows raised slightly as he caught something glimmering off of the braided one's face. Was that…a tear? Duo's body was trembling against his even though it wasn't cold in this room.

Then he heard a few words escape Duo lips, words that were, volume-wise, low and nearly silent.

"But then why does everybody hate me? Why do they hate me so much?"

Solo's eyes widened as he wrapped his other arm around Duo and pressed his face into his chest just as the first silent sob began to wrack the small body, tremors erupting from Duo.

He felt rather than saw Quatre approach and sit behind Duo, wrapping his arms around the crying teen, beginning rocking motions to soothe the distraught boy, mindful of the bandage on his head as he began to stroke Duo's hair. "Oh Duo," Quatre sighed.

Solo couldn't help but feel a surge of possessive surge through him. It was unexpected and shocked him enough that he was able to put a lid on it as he fell into the rhythm that Quatre started. And the tears still kept coming as Duo wept, his leakage being absorbed by Solo's clothing. The longed haired blond was beginning to feel the moisture against his skin but he could have cared less for some reason.

It was strange. A week ago, he would have beaten the snot out of anybody who "ruined" his outfit. Yet, here he was letting somebody cry in his shirt and get snot all over it and he didn't care.

What the hell was happening to him?

The appearance of an old man went unnoticed by him until he caught sight of the Godforsaken Hawaiian shirt that suddenly filled up his peripheral vision. He hadn't a chance to say anything about it as the old man was already addressing Duo.

"Are you all right Duo?" the old man inquired worriedly. "Talk to me kiddo, what happened?"

Now Solo was about to tell the guy that Duo wasn't in the mood to talk but much to his shock, Duo seemed to have picked himself back together within seconds of hearing the old man speak.

"What are you doing here Howard?" the braided one asked brokenly as he removed his face from Solo's person, tear-stricken and puffy face frowning at the old man.

"Someone worked you over real good huh?" Howard commented. "Tell me the bastard who did this to you and I'll get them charged with assault and battery on ya, make them wish they had thought twice before jumping ya."

"Hold on a minute," Solo interrupted. "Who the hell are you?"

Lowering the sunglasses that he had kept on, even inside, Howard's dark eyes bored into him, as if looking at his very soul. "And that was just what I was about to ask you," Howard replied.

Quatre, forgotten, remained silent, watching the scene before him avidly and trying to figure out just who this man was and what connection he had with Duo. He had never met or heard of anybody named Howard before nor had Duo ever mentioned him before.

"Can you excuse me, guys?" Duo cut in, looking both at Quatre and Solo. "I need to talk with Howard a bit, okay?"

Not willing to argue, Quatre nodded and proceeded to drag his cousin away as this Howard character remained to talk with Duo. The old man's eyes remained on them until they had reached an appropriate distance before returning to Duo himself.

"Who is that?" Trowa asked from behind them, the unibanged teen eyeing the newcomer.

"Don't know," Quatre answered, "but he seems to know Duo and Duo him. I have no idea what's going on."

Solo, however, watched the old man balefully, having obviously taken a dislike to the guy. He crossed his arms over his chest, mindful of the small mess Duo's crying fit had left behind, ignoring everything else around him as he continued to glare. He wanted so bad to be over there and hearing every word but he was too far away to eavesdrop and the two males were conversing quietly. Frowning, Quatre tapped his shoulder and the long haired blond turned his glare to the other blond.

Trowa took up a protective stance behind the smaller blond as Solo growled, "What?"

"There's no use getting upset about it," Quatre said patiently. "We'll ask Duo about that guy later."

"And what if Duo refuses to say anything?" Solo nearly snarled.

"We'll make him," Quatre stated resolutely. "He can't keep hiding stuff from us, not anymore."

However, before Quatre could get on a roll, Trowa interrupted with a "He's coming over here."

Hushing up quickly and turning to watch the old man, who had put his sunglasses back up, approach them, the guy nodding his head to the door, raising an eyebrow as he did so. Frowning, the three teens followed after the old man, suspicious, or, in Trowa's case curious about what he wanted with them. Closing the door behind them all, Howard leaned beside it and pulled his sunglass down again.

"First off," he began in a low raspy pitch, "I want to know who you are and what your relation to Duo is." Solo showed his objection to this visibly but Howard cut him off before he could say anything. "Just answer the question and I'll tell you what I can."

Since it seemed the other two weren't going to voluntarily do it, Quatre decided to answer for them and himself. "My name's Quat—"

"I already know who you are," Howard rudely interrupted. "God knows Duo has talked about you a lot. I want to know about the other two."

That was quite a bit of info. Duo had spoken of him to this old man?

"Well, this is Trowa Barton," he continued, introducing his boyfriend. Howard raised an eyebrow, as if telling him to elaborate more. Quatre was a bit confused at how to respond since he didn't know what else the old man wanted to know.

Trowa took charge of that though. "I'm Quatre's boyfriend," he stated, moving closer to the blond and wrapping his arm around his waist.

"Good for you," Howard said dryly. "But you didn't answer my question. What is your relation to Duo?"

Emerald eyes widening slightly, Trowa simply answered, "I guess I'm just a friend."

"You guess, huh?" The dark eyes examined him for a minute longer before turning to look at Solo. "And what about you sonny?"

Solo continued to glare at Howard as he answered, "Solo. I'm the new kid in school and Duo's my best friend."

Howard smirked. "Okay, what's your real name?"

Solo's eyes narrowed as his glare intensified, Quatre having to step in and finish his introduction. "He's my cousin, Solomon Winner."

That glare was now focused on Quatre at his audacity in giving out his name like that.

"No wonder you prefer Solo," Howard chuckled.

Exasperated, Solo turned back to Howard. "Okay, we told you who we are. Now spill. Who the hell are you?"

"The name's Howard Sweeps," he answered. "I guess you could say I'm Duo's attorney. I've been looking after his legal affairs since he was three."

"Legal affairs?" Trowa questioned, still trying to fit in pieces of the puzzle.

"Not for me to tell," Howard stated. "If Duo wanted you to know, he would have told you himself."

"But he refuses to tell us anything!" Quatre protested. "Can't you at least tell us something? Duo's my friend and I want to help him but he won't let me."

"I can't tell you much," Howard stated. "In fact, I can't tell you much of anything without Duo's permission. However, something has come up and if you are truly his friends, like you say you are, then I'll expect you to do something to help out."

"Anything!" Quatre exclaimed.

Looking side to side, he leaned closer to the trio. "You know about the situation with his father, right?"

Both Quatre and Solo nodded their heads but Trowa did nothing, not even knowing what Howard was talking about.

"Well, yesterday his father cut the amount of child support he has to pay. Now Duo can't afford to live in the apartment he has and needs to start looking for a new place to stay. I've already offered him to come to my place but he refused. Told me once that he wanted to live on his own and depend on himself since he could count on nobody else. Those were his words, by the way, not mine."

"That son of a bitch," Solo growled, his fists clenching tightly.

"My words exactly," Howard agreed dryly.

"So that's why he was so upset yesterday," Quatre murmured to himself. It explained quite a lot. This must have been the reason why Duo had been called to the office. Howard had told him what had happened and Duo was always in a bad mood whenever the subject of his father came up. The man should rot in Hell for doing this to his friend.

Trowa remained silent, not saying a thing, learning more about the braided teen in the past few minutes than he had in the past couple years. He could see that Quatre was visibly upset with the news and Solo was displaying emotion, mainly anger, at Duo's situation.

"This would be much simpler if Duo wasn't so stubborn about staying out on his own and not with me or any of the others," Howard grumbled. "It's now more important that he have a roof over his head and food in his stomach. However, the last thing I want to do is force him into something he doesn't want."

Despite feeling hatred for the man that had sired Duo, something clicked in Solo's head.

"How about he stays over with us?" he suggested.

Howard raised an eyebrow.

""I mean, he doesn't want to stay with you," Solo continued, "but he might take it better if he stays with one of us."

"Not a bad idea," Howard admitted, "but will any of your folks agree with it? Taking in another kid is a big responsibility."

"He can stay with me and Quatre," Solo stated firmly. "The help there likes Duo. All we got to ask for is my uncle's permission. The place is big and Duo's small; he'll never notice him."

Howard snorted in amusement and turned his eyes to Quatre.

The small blond thought about what Solo had said. He wholeheartedly wanted to go ahead with it but he had to ask his father first. That would be the first obstacle. The second would be Duo himself. Duo could be amazingly stubborn when he wanted to be and wouldn't budge if he didn't feel like it.

Solo seemed to catch on to his thoughts and he smirked down at him. "You leave Duo to me. I can get him there."

While doubting his cousin's claim, still, he was persistent. He had found out where Duo lived all by himself and forced his way inside. If there was anybody who could make Duo do _anything_, it would most likely be Solo at this point in time.

"I'll have to call Father up and ask him," he replied.

"You can borrow my cell if you want," Howard offered, taking out the small device.

"No thank you, I have my own," Quatre declined. "I'll go and make the call right now."

As Quatre turned away, Solo returned his focus back to Howard. "So now what?" he asked.

"I'm going to be taking Duo back to his apartment," Howard answered. "If you get the okay, I can take you there after you're done here—"

"I know where the apartment is," Solo interrupted. "Once we get the okay, I can take it from there."

"You seem pretty confident in yourself," Howard commented.

"You betcha ass I am."

"Excuse me, please."

The two turned to look at the forgotten Trowa.

"Would you kindly tell me what's going on?" Trowa asked politely. "I don't know much and what I do know, I'm not able to piece together completely."

"Out of the loop huh?" Howard stated. Looking side to side, he put a long, withered arm around the unibanged teen's shoulders and led him away. "I'll tell you a bit but you can't tell Duo I told you," the old man ordered.

Phasing the conversation out, Solo stuck his hands into his pockets and began to sway from side to side, lost in thought. He didn't know how much time had passed when he felt something tap his shoulder and he turned his head around to look.

"I got the go ahead," Quatre said. "However, Father wants to talk with Duo about what's going on. It's only temporary, at least for now it is."

"We'll worry about that stuff later," Solo replied. "As for now, just leave Duo to me."

The shrill ring of the bell caught them by surprise and they looked at each other. Had they just missed all of third period? It seemed like that was the case as the hallways were flooded with students, some heading for the cafeteria while others to their next class. Chuckling, Solo shook his head.

Then something caught both of their eyes. It wasn't something special; no, there was just something out of place. There was both Wufei and Heero walking down the hallway, moving with the flow of students. The first thing the two blonds noticed was the bruise on Heero's cheek.

The second thing was the faint imprint of a shoe on Heero's shirt.

The two blonds' eyes widened and their eyes met, a rush of information pouring between the two. The eyes soon hardened.

Now they knew who had hurt Duo.

Heero Yuy was in big trouble.


	10. The Winner Ultimatum

Author's Note: Enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language

The Winner Ultimatum

Knowing full well that this was when Heero and Wufei had lunch, both Quatre and Solo made their way into the cafeteria, automatically spotting where the duo were eating.

"Remember, take no action except verbal," Quatre instructed. "The last thing we need is any kind of trouble that will make Father revoke his permission."

"Just confront them and leave them alone, got it," Solo confirmed.

The two blonds had debated on what to do once they came upon Heero. They agreed that there was to be no fights since it might jeopardize their plan to have Duo stay with them. It had been Solo who suggested they wait until tomorrow. It would be Friday then and the chance to really mess up Heero's weekend would be high. First though, they would have to find out if Heero had any plans but that could be found out through other sources. Neither of them wanted to be in Heero's company for too long.

It was Wufei who spotted them first and he greeted them with a carefully schooled expression.

"I take it that both of you will be joining us today, Winners?" he inquired.

Oh how much Solo wanted to wipe that look off that asshole's face. Still, it was not Wufei that they had come for. Instead, he turned towards Heero who was giving them his undivided attention, his demeanor quite smug.

"That's an interesting mark on your shirt," Solo commented to him, his eyes looking pointedly at the footprint that had been smeared due to somebody trying to wipe it off with no success. "Where'd you get it?"

"I stepped on it this morning," Heero readily answered.

"Funny, I had a mark just like that on one of my shirts," Solo stated wryly. "I didn't step on it though."

"How'd you get it then?" Wufei asked, a little miffed at being ignored.

"Duo Maxwell high-kicked me when I got too nosy and floored me," Solo answered pointedly. "To tell you the truth, the print he left on my shirt looked just like yours except it didn't look like somebody tried to get rid of it."

"Maxwell assaulted you?" Wufei inquired. "Why am I not surprised that he would do something like that?"

"Watch your mouth, _Chang_," Quatre growled, catching both the Asians off guard.

Frowning, Heero spoke up, his attention refocusing on Solo. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Smirking, Solo replied, "I know that it was you who beat Duo up and left him in the restroom. That mark, along with that bruise, told me everything."

"You really think somebody like Duo Maxwell could do this to me?" Heero sneered, pointing at his bruise.

"Yeah, I do," Solo said. "The guy is not defenseless. He took me down and I'm, like, two feet taller than him."

"Pathetic," Heero taunted. "I slipped on a wet floor. Duo Maxwell couldn't land a blow on me even if I was tied down and blindfolded."

"You're lying," Quatre stated.

"What makes you think that?"

"I've seen a lot of bruises in my time," Quatre replied. "Don't think because I've lived a sheltered life, I don't know didly squat. If you slipped on a wet floor, how did that bruise get on your cheek? Floors, no matter how hard they are, can't make a bruise like that unless you hit something as you fell."

"That's exactly what happened," Heero declared a bit too quickly.

"Really? The floor is only wet when a janitor mops it, and that happens when school is over, or somebody spills something. Students aren't allowed to take food or drinks down the halls or to the classrooms. Nobody threw up today, to my knowledge. The nurse would have heard of it and she hadn't." Quatre was giving Heero a predatory look as he listed all his points.

Right now, Heero was sweating a bit. He couldn't let it be known that Duo Maxwell of all people had not only hit him but had actually left a bruise. Wufei was looking at him with a raised eyebrow. The Chinese had been the only one to have known the truth since he couldn't be lied to by anybody and it looked like he was waiting to see how he was going to get out of this.

Already, the surrounding students who had been listening were whispering and gossiping about it, waiting for the drama before them to continue and reach its climax.

"You may have fooled everybody else," Quatre spoke when Heero didn't say anything, "but you haven't fooled us. Just know this: if you ever lay another finger on Duo, you will regret it."

"And don't think you're going to be getting away with this either," Solo continued. "Your dues will come in due time."

"Are you threatening me?" Heero growled menacingly.

"I don't make threats," Solo stated, his green eyes boring into Heero. "I make promises."

Before anything else could happen, somebody decided to intervene.

And no, it wasn't an authority figure.

"You leave Heero alone!" demanded one Relena Peacecraft as she inserted herself bodily between the blonds and Asians. "How dare you even think about accusing Heero of doing such despicable acts! He would never stoop so low as to beat up that pathetic loser!"

Holding his hands up in the universal sign of giving up, Solo simply said, "We're through here anyway. Just remember, you two," he continued, eyeing the two Asians, "we'll be keeping an eye on you. Let's go Q."

Relena glared after the two blonds as they left the scene before turning her attention to Heero. "I hope they didn't offend you too badly Heero," she gushed. "It was rude and despicable what they were saying about you!"

Rolling his eyes, Heero had to suffer himself to yet another bout of listening to his personal stalker as Wufei smirked at him.

* * *

After getting away from the pink stalker, it was Wufei who stated, "It seems we have a new enemy."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "What gave you that first clue?"

"I hadn't wanted this to pass but it looks like we'll have to give up on both the new kid and Winner," Wufei continued.

"So what do we do?" Heero asked.

"Nothing as of yet," Wufei answered. "They could have done something today but they haven't. They're just all talk. What we should do is try to repair what damage they've done to your reputation. This'll all blow over in time."

"They better watch their backs," Heero stated, cracking his knuckles. "The moment I get them in a dark alley alone, they're gonna wish they were never born."

* * *

The moment school ended, Solo had Quatre and him go back to the mansion. He told the smaller blond to pick out a room for Duo to stay in and get it ready while he retrieved the braided one himself. Grabbing a couple suitcases that he had brought with him, he threw them into his car and took off.

It was times like these where he was glad that he had a driver's license.

He knew where he needed to go. He had been taken there earlier that morning and kept a lookout for certain landmarks that told him he was getting close. Spotting the apartment complex easily, he pulled into the small parking lot and parked. Taking the two suitcases with him, he strolled up the stairs and to Duo's apartment, setting the empty luggage down as he knocked on the door.

A few minutes later, sure enough, he heard the door being unlocked and opened. Duo's face was still a bit puffy, despite the swelling going down, but that was because it was obvious that he had been crying since his eyes had that red tinge to it. Those eyes soon widened as Solo swept him up into a bear hug and squeezed him with all his might.

"Solo?!" Duo practically screeched. "What the hell?! What are you doing here?!"

Not answering but grinning cheekily, Solo set him aside and reached back out the door to bring in the empty suitcases. Duo's eyes widened comically.

"You're not moving in here, are you?" he squeaked.

Chuckling, Solo shook his head as he headed straight to Duo's bedroom, throwing the suitcases down on the bed and moving towards the closet. Making sure that the front door was shut, Duo followed after the blond, coming onto the scene of Solo throwing his clothes into one of the suitcases, not bothering to fold any of them.

"What the—what the hell do you think you're doing?!" he yelled, demanding an explanation.

"Packing your stuff up," Solo stated simply, as if it was obvious.

"But, why are you doing it?" Duo questioned, moving to try and undo all Solo's work thus far.

However, Solo moved to intercept him, still grinning cheekily at him. "You think too much," he chided as he slowly led Duo out of his room and promptly closed the door, locking it behind him. It took Duo a couple of seconds' worth of eye blinking to figure out just what had happened.

"You son of a bitch!" he roared. "Unlock this damn door now! I'm gonna beat the living shit out of you, you oversized coat rack!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared!" came Solo's muffled reply.

Growling, Duo remained planted where he stood, glaring at the wooden barrier that dared to put itself between him and the blond dead man on the other side. His mind was already coming up with so many different ways and methods to make the blond menace pay for this, all of which included pain, extreme torture, blood, suffering, and did he mention extreme torture? Yes, those screams of pain and cries for mercy would be music to his ears, crimes against humanity and international war tribunals be damned!

Unfortunately, he was too deep in his fantasies to realize that the door in front of him unlock and open, revealing a very amused Solo on the other side. Smirking, Solo wrapped both his arms around the braided one and picked him up, heading straight to the bathroom to pick up any and all toiletries Duo might need. Coming to a few seconds later and figuring out what had happened, Duo began to squirm and kick, cursing the blond out and making threats on his life.

Ah, he could already hear the blissful bells of matrimony…

Upon entering the bathroom, Solo released his captive and began collecting only the necessities: toothbrush, deodorant, any medication Duo might be taking (i.e. Tylenol for those nasty headaches), and last, but not least, a hairbrush. Hey, he knew what it was like to have long hair and a guy/gal's best friend was their hairbrush. He had to debate whether to smell it but ultimately decided against since he had a livid audience in attendance.

Resisting the urge to stamp his foot on the floor childishly, Duo demanded, "What the hell are you doing?"

Not bothering to answer, Solo turned his back on him and left, heading back to the bedroom. Duo fumed, muttering curses under his breath that would make a sailor blush, he marched after the blond but soon had to back up as the blond came back his way, both suitcases now filled to the brim with his clothing and other such things.

"You really don't have much, do ya?" Solo commented, carrying the luggage with ease.

"Oh, pardon me for breathing," Duo retorted.

Raising an eyebrow at Duo, Solo refrained from commenting as he took the luggage out to his car while Duo stayed put in his apartment. A couple minutes later, Solo came back up and put his hands on his hips, looking straight at the braided one.

"Now, are you coming willingly or do we have to do this the hard way?" Solo asked, tilting his head to a side.

Still fuming, Duo refused to answer as he glared at him.

A wicked grin began to form on Solo's face. "I guess we're doing this the hard way, huh?"

* * *

"Home sweet home!" Solo chirped as he pulled up to the Winner Mansion.

"Depends on your perspective," Duo shot back, not at all happy about the turn of events.

Solo only chuckled at Duo's retort, not bothering to say anything about it. All that mattered was that things had gone _his_ way. Honestly, he was feeling like a kid whose parent bought him a toy at the toy store. Shutting down his car, he got out and took Duo's luggage out. Duo, however, remained where he sat in the passenger's seat, refusing to budge.

Raising an eyebrow, Solo inquired, "Are you gonna get out or do we have to do it the hard way again? Please say you're gonna stay; I really want to carry you again."

Not willing to let the blond get his perverse brand of pleasure from this, the braided one grumbled as he unbuckled his seat belt and got out, Solo's disappointment obvious on his face.

"Aw man!" he whined. "Spoilsport!"

"Yep, that's me alright," Duo mumbled to himself and followed after the blond who led the way into the mansion.

It wasn't long until he found himself assaulted by another blond Winner, this one being Quatre who enveloped him in a bear hug.

"I'm so glad you decided to come!" Quatre greeted as he squeezed Duo tighter.

"I wouldn't say I was the one who decided," Duo replied, aiming a glare at Solo.

"Hey, you're here and that's what counts," Solo defended. Looking at Quatre, he asked, "So where we keeping him?"

Nodding, Quatre gestured for them to follow, Solo starting right after the blond, lugging the suitcases with him, as Duo crossed his arms, grumbling as he followed after the two blonds.

The room Quatre had picked out for him was at least half the size of his apartment if not as big as it. It had everything that a guestroom required: king-sized bed, big-ass T.V., enormous dresser and bookshelves, walk-in closet, big-ass T.V., private bathroom, a couple comfy chairs, big-ass T.V., drape-like curtains, plush carpet, and did he mention the big-ass T.V.?

Dumping Duo's luggage on the carpeted floor, Solo slugged an arm around his shoulders and grinned. "How do ya like your new home, Short Stuff?"

Glaring at the taller blond, he retorted, "It's very nice, thank you very much, Tree Trunk. Now, if you'll remove your arm before I break it off…"

Ruffling his hair, Solo chuckled as he playfully shoved the braided one away. "You're just a regular firecracker, aren't ya?" he teased as he left Duo alone with Quatre.

Sighing, Duo turned his attention to Quatre. "So, what time do I need to get up tomorrow?"

Quatre looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Giving a long-suffering sigh, he elaborated, "School, Q. What time do I need to get up for school?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Quatre answered cryptically.

"And why wouldn't I?" Duo shot back.

"Because you're not going tomorrow," Quatre replied. "You've had a long, rough day today and Father agreed to let you stay home tomorrow."

"While I'm not upset by this…" Duo paused, a thought occurring to him. "What the hell am I doing? Have fun tomorrow Q."

Shaking his head in amusement, Quatre left Duo to his own devises, closing the door behind him.

He let an unusual predatory expression cross his face. Oh, he would have fun tomorrow.

Of course, it was the question of whether Heero would…


	11. Never Cross a Wrathful Winner

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, violence

Never Cross a Wrathful Winner

"So what's the game plan?" Quatre asked eagerly as he walked to school with his cousin instead of being driven.

"First, we need to figure out if he has any plans," Solo stated. "If he's going to be doing anything important, at least important to him, we need to know if it's _happening_ this weekend. Ask about it without being obvious. We'll share notes at lunch and take it from there."

"Right," Quatre said, pausing as a thought came to him. "Do we want to get Trowa in on this?"

"He does have access to some of the guys that hang with Heero," Solo murmured thoughtfully. "Might as well. He is one of Duo's friends, right?"

"Though he may not look it, he is," Quatre stated firmly.

"You know that for a fact?"

"I put my manhood on it."

"Okay, I get ya," Solo muttered as his hands drifted to protectively cover his crotch. "On another note, is there any way you can show me to my classes?"

"You've been here nearly a week and you still don't know your way around here?" Quatre asked skeptically.

"I always left it up to Duo," he protested in his defense. "I didn't think something like this was going to happen!"

"It's no problem," Quatre sighed, hoping to get away from the subject. The image of Duo lying in the restroom still haunted him.

"Yeah, well, just keep on the lookout for info. Don't make anybody suspicious."

Nodding, Quatre's aquamarine eyes focused on the ever-growing school building.

* * *

As much as he didn't want to do it, Solo knew it was for a good cause. He was going to have to…sigh…endure the presence of that harpy with the weird eyebrows again.

Since Duo wasn't here, it seemed every girl and her sister, hell even their mother, was approaching him, trying to either flirt with him or ask him out on a date. Taking the opportunities given to him, he inquired if they heard about anything special happening this weekend, like someone holding a party. Alas, nothing came up and he had to wave away the throngs, hinting at something or just playing hard to get, always casting the illusion of the coveted "bad boy."

After being led to his first period, he steeled himself, waiting for that slut…er, Dorothy, to make her next attempt on claiming him.

He was not disappointed nor did he have to wait long.

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend's…accident," Dorothy greeted, taking Duo's seat. Solo grinded his teeth and forced back the sudden flash of rage that had momentarily overwhelmed him.

"Yeah, I miss him already," he stated, trying his best not to reach over and wring her neck.

"It really is too bad," she sighed melodramatically.

"I could really do something to boost my spirits," he spoke casually, watching her from the corner of his eye. "Would you happen to know if there's a party or something?"

"Now that I think about it, I believe Wufei is having one," Dorothy answered after some thought.

"The China guy?" Solo asked.

"Interesting nickname," Dorothy commented dryly. "But you shouldn't think ill of him. His parties are the best. Since his folks are going to be out of town, it's going to be huge. Everybody who's somebody is going to be there."

"Even that Heero guy?" he asked.

"Of course."

"What is it between those two? Are they dating or something?"

Giggling, Dorothy replied, "They most certainly are not though you are the first to ask that."

"What's going to be so special about the party anyway?" Solo asked.

"You'll find out if you go," Dorothy answered, grinning suggestively at him. "Perhaps we could go together, just as friends, and have a good time?"

"I'll have to think about it," he answered. "I got to see if my uncle's going to be here or not. If he is, then I'll have to stay at my cousin's. If he isn't, then I'll give ya a call."

With the girl nearly squealing giddily, Solo had to refrain from letting his disgust out in the open. He couldn't afford to let anyone see it just yet. However, he was jumping up and down with excitement in his head. It seemed as if fate was on his side today.

"So what do you got?" Solo immediately asked his partners-in-crime the moment he sat down.

"Big party at Wufei's," Quatre answered, looking as if that explained everything.

"I heard about that," Solo started slowly, "but I have no idea what's so special about it."

Quatre looked at him, eyes widening in realization that Solo really didn't know what was so special about Chang Wufei's parties. Trowa, however, intervened.

"Wufei is really extravagant when he throws one of his bashes," Trowa explained. "For example, at the last party, he filled his backyard swimming pool to the brim with alcohol and let everybody skinny-dip in it, making sure that nobody got too deep into it. Of course, he didn't stop there, going as far as to include other fun activities that required water and using alcohol as a substitute."

"Sounds like fun," Solo drawled, trying to imagine such a scene.

"Now, nobody heard about a party being held tonight until sometime yesterday, after lunch to be precise," Trowa continued. "I didn't hear about it until last period and from what I've heard, this party is going to be a big one."

"No doubt in celebration of Heero's 'accomplishment,'" Quatre muttered. "Can you believe that everybody is talking about what happened to Duo yesterday? The way they're talking about it is like they really don't care. How can these people be so heartless?"

"Well, at least we know that Heero has something planned for this evening," Solo cut in. Grinning wickedly, he continued, "But I don't think that his plans are going to be compatible with ours."

Gaining his own wicked look, Quatre nodded. Beside him, Trowa showed nothing but there was a twinkle in his eye, revealing that he was also going along with this.

Leaning closer to the two conspiratorially, Solo began to explain the next phase of the plan.

* * *

Letting an enormous yawn out, Duo finally returned to the conscious world of reality, his eyes blinking tiredly as he sought to figure out where he was. He knew this wasn't his apartment since he knew his bed wasn't as comfortable as the one he had woken up in, not that he didn't mind, of course.

Glancing at an unfamiliar clock, his eyes widened to saucers as he saw the time: 12:10 p.m. Crap, he was late for school! Wait…oh yeah, he wasn't going, that's right… No wonder he had slept as long as he had, his internal alarm clock usually woke him up long before school started.

The events of yesterday came rushing back to him and he put his hands under his head as he started to sort out everything. So much had happened in a short amount of time… First he had been greeted at his front door by Solo and walked to school with him, watched a verbal confrontation between Solo and Dorothy, was beaten up in a restroom by Heero Yuy, taken to the nurse's office by the three people who he remotely called friends, abducted and forcefully moved to Quatre's…it was better to ask what didn't happen.

Now here he was, out of school, lazing about in the lap of luxury… Sigh…if only this could have been his real life…

His stomach growling awoke him to an unpleasant reality. He hadn't eaten anything since yesterday and he was starving! Best to get up and get something to eat before he starved to death. He supposed he could get dressed and spare the staff the horrible sight of him in his pajamas.

Once changed, he set out to fill his stomach. After much thought, he decided to skip breakfast altogether and go straight to lunch since it was that time of day after all. Why eat some cold breakfast food when you could have something warm and cooked…mmmmmmmmm….

Finding the dining room first, by accident of course, he was greeted by the last person he thought he'd encounter at this time of day.

"About time you got up. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to sleep the day away."

Quatre's father was sitting at the table as if he had been expecting him. In fact, it looked like he had been since there was another place set out for someone, most likely him, and there was a small buffet of luncheon food on the large dining room table.

"Well don't just stand there, join me," Mr. Winner invited, gesturing to the unoccupied set place.

Not daring to offend such a powerful figure, Duo quickly took his place, shivering nervously in the man's presence.

Chuckling, Mr. Winner said, "I'm not going to bite you, lad. Go on and dig in."

As if broken out of a trance, Duo immediately began to fill his plate and dug in, much to the amusement of his older companion. Mr. Winner paced himself as he observed the ravenous braided one, not because he was trying to figure something out but more as in amusement. The man had patience and knew he would get his answers in time.

Duo solely concentrated on his meal, hoping that the presence of the older man would slip his mind and for a time it worked. He had indeed forgotten how good the cooks were here and was beginning to wonder why he didn't come over more often.

"You know you can slow down; it's not going anywhere."

Startled, he almost choked but managed to swallow his mouthful, taking a big chug of the beverage provided to him to wash it down. "I forgot you were there," he said sheepishly.

Mr. Winner chuckled. "I could see that."

Hoping to not cause an awkward silence, he asked conversationally, "I didn't think you would be home this time of day."

"Something came up," Mr. Winner answered cryptically.

"Business related?"

"Not precisely."

Duo began to feel a bit awkward. "Is it me?"

When no answer was forthcoming, he sighed. "I'll go get my stuff…"

"Did you ever wonder why I agreed for you to stay here?"

"Huh?" Duo was caught off guard once more as he turned to look at the older man in the face.

"I know you're in trouble Duo," Mr. Winner stated.

"And how is that any of your business?" Duo questioned suspiciously.

"It becomes my business when it troubles my son," Mr. Winner replied smoothly. "You make Quatre happy; that's been a big reason why I haven't objected to you being invited here, not just on this occasion but on others. I can tell when my son is troubled and I know the reason he's troubled involves you."

"What are you getting at?"

"My son's happiness means a lot to me. Since you make my son happy, I'd like to give you my gratitude for that. However, I want to know precisely what I'm getting involved with. I want to know what's going on with you."

Duo sighed. "What is it with Winner men and wanting to know my business?"

"How do you mean?"

"Well, first there's Quatre, then Solo, now you. It's like you guys are obsessed with me or something."

Chuckling, Mr. Winner replied, "You can keep your secrets from them if you want but this is my roof that you are staying under and I at least deserve to know what's going on Duo. I won't say a word to anybody if that's what you're worried about."

"I don't have a choice in this, huh?"

"Glad you're catching on."

Sitting back, giving a long suffering sigh, Duo stated, "Well, you asked for it…"

* * *

The final ring of the bell was like music to Solo's ears. The moment he had been waiting for all day was so close he could practically taste it. He hadn't taken a step out of his last class when he caught sight of Quatre and Trowa, nodding to both of them. Receiving answering nods from each one, their steps drew one another towards each other, the trio soon walking side-by-side one another.

Now that he thought about it, it was like they were those Mafia guys from those mob movies he knew and loved. Well, they were going to "whack" somebody only more in the literal sense than in the mob jargon sense.

Out of the three of them, it was Trowa who had been the one to provide them of what Heero Yuy's after school routine was. The guy walked to and from school, not because he didn't have a car but to keep in shape, or "to keep up his all-so-perfect physique" as Duo had once put it to Quatre, and the unibanged teen knew this because the Japanese youth had bragged that it was his secret to staying fit. This gave them the perfect opportunity to strike back at him.

For such a "perfect" guy, he was really setting himself up for this.

Keeping an eye out, they noticed that Heero had begun his trek home, jogging backwards of all things, and taking the long way back to his house. This guy was just making this _too_ easy.

Yes, Trowa had been to Heero's house before, for a post-victory party after an incredible football game, so he was able to lead them down a few short cuts. Solo had them stop in front of an inconspicuous alley and they waited for their prey to come.

After perhaps ten minutes or so, the target was sighted, still jogging backwards. The guy was really conceited with himself, wasn't he? He probably thought that there wasn't anybody around who had the balls to attack him.

Oh was he about to get an oh-so-rude awakening.

As he drew closer and closer, Solo nodded at Quatre, the smaller blond nodding back and readying himself. At the last possible moment, he stuck his foot out and tripped Heero, causing the athletic teen to stumble and fall gracelessly onto his ass. Damn, did he have to do everything perfect? Solo could have sworn that the guy tried to fall perfectly.

Brushing those thoughts out of his head, he approached the fallen teen quickly, asking, "Need a hand?"

Surprise was evident on Heero's face but Solo gave him no time to refuse as he grabbed his hand and pulled him up off the ground. Heero looked like he was about to say something but that was lost as Solo took it one step further by pulling the Japanese youth forward and shoving him down the alley.

Cracking his knuckles, Solo followed after, Quatre and Trowa remaining at the entrance of the alley to keep an eye out for any possible interlopers, be they other students or the law.

"What the hell was that?" Heero demanded, anger contorting his face.

Solo chuckled. "Did you really think you were going to get away with it?"

"Away with what?!" Heero demanded, balling his hands into fists.

"All three of us know it was you who beat up Duo," Solo stated coldly. "Don't even try and deny it."

"What are you, his mommy?" Heero sneered. "Do you change his diapers too?"

Solo could hear the low growl coming from Quatre. This guy seriously needed a reality check.

"Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" Solo taunted back. "Wait, if you were to do that, we'd have a lot of grade schoolers beaten up."

"You little bitch!" Heero swore as he lost his temper and struck at Solo.

Solo grabbed Heero's arm and spun him around before shoving him into the alley's dumpster, smirking at the sound of a body hitting the aluminum.

"What's the matter?" Solo taunted. "Am I too big for you or something? Do I need to be one foot shorter than you for this to be a fair fight?"

Growling, Heero snarled, "I'll show you, you fag!" at him as he lunged.

Solo's eyes narrowed as he growled, "Excuse me?" Using Heero's momentum against him, he shoved Herro into the alley wall, his chest impacting the wall.

"Pathetic," Solo stated. "Duo managed to take me down with a single kick. You haven't laid a finger on me. What's the matter? Can't you hit the fag? Aren't you suppose to be perfect or something?"

"I'm going to make you wish you never came to my school!" Heero snarled as he threw a punch. Solo simply moved to a side and Heero's momentum was used against him once again as he went stumbling to the opposite wall, his fist connecting with the brick and mortar. "Hold still!" Heero demanded, holding his hand as pain throbbed from it.

"This isn't my first fight," Solo replied. "I've been up against tougher guys than you. Seems my street fighting is really paying off."

Heero tackled him, his shoulder slamming into his waist but failing to knock the blond down. Solo brought a fist down on the back of his skull then brought his knee up into Heero's gut. Holding Heero still so he couldn't get away, Solo landed a few more knees to the gut before turning and slamming Heero into the alley wall again.

Quatre and Trowa would ever so often cast looks back at the massacre behind them, both reveling in Heero's punishment before turning their attention back to the streets. Nobody was about today, making it seem as if somebody else had it in for Heero as well.

Heero's shriek of pain as Solo broke his leg caused them to tear they eyes away from the streets momentarily before turning back twice as vigilant as before. It gave them an odd sense of pleasure as they overheard Heero blubbering like a baby, his tough guy exterior shattered, revealing the weak individual within.

Stopping in the pounding, Solo force the barely conscious Heero to look into his furious green eyes. "You will tell no one else about this, got it?" he ordered. "If you tell another living soul about who did this to you, I'll make this all seem like a walk in the park. And if you ever lay another finger on Duo, I'm going to make you wish your mama never met your papa! Got it!?"

Wracked with pain, Heero nodded feebly.

Smirking darkly, Solo replied, "Good. That's what I wanted to hear."

Turning, he shoved the mauled Heero down into the nearest garbage can, letting Heero's legs hang out limply as he slammed the lid on them.

Dusting his hands off as if this was something he did every day, he turned and rejoined his fellow partners in crime, a look telling them the deed was done.

Without another word, the three left, leaving only Heero's backpack out in the open so that a passerby would notice.

All in all, it was a job well done.


	12. The All Intrusive Blond Winner Strikes

Author's Note: Quite a few of you seemed to like the previous chapter. Still, I just want to say that I do not advocate the use of violence, such as what happened. Unfortunately, I'm only human and can only feel cathartic and pleased about how it turned out. So, next chapter is here, not much to say about it so enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, slight shounen ai, situations

The All Intrusive Blond Winner Strikes Again

"You serious? Canceled? That's not good. Nah, I'll just stay in tonight. Bye. No, I don't want to go out. Yes I'm sure. No. Bye. No. Bye. Bye."

Hanging up, Solo cursed the fact that the slut on the other end knew Quatre's home phone. Still, it wasn't entirely unpleasant.

"So what was that about?" asked Duo, curious beyond belief about what the call was about.

Instead of answering straight away, Solo caught his cousin's eye first as the blond was cuddling up with his own boyfriend, both watching him with interest.

"Party's canceled," he reported. "The guest of honor didn't show. Apparently, he was busy down at the hospital's trauma ward, recuperating from a severe beating, and not saying a word about how he got like that. Chang canceled as soon as he found out and is there with him now."

Quatre gave an uncharacteristic smirk as Trowa chuckled to himself. Duo, still out of the loop, was growing ever agitated and wanted some answers.

"Would someone care to tell me what this is all about?" he demanded.

Smirking, Solo simply laid a hand on him and led him to one of the den's chairs, plopping himself down first before forcing Duo onto his lap. He kept in his chuckles as the smaller male squirmed to get out of the embrace the taller blond had on him, ultimately resulting to pouting when all else failed.

"We all know who it was that beat you up yesterday," Solo stated, much to Duo's shock, freezing where he sat. "Don't try to deny it either."

Sighing, unknowingly falling back against the blond's torso, he asked, "So what happened?"

Wicked grins were what answered him before Solo enlightened him verbally. "We cornered the guy and gave him a taste of his own medicine. He shouldn't be bothering you any time soon."

Speechless, Duo turned his head to get a good look at the blond before turning back to look at the other two. After a couple false attempts, he managed to speak, "You guys actually…?"

"You bet," Quatre confirmed, Trowa simply nodding in affirmation. "However, it was Solo who did most of the work. He was the one to send Heero to intensive care, or wherever they put him."

Slowly looking back at Solo, Duo's mouth kept opening in shutting, as if he couldn't decide whether to say something or nothing.

His smirk becoming a perverted grin, Solo spoke first. "I know I'm good-looking but if you want something, you're going to have to ask me." He followed this up with a waggling of his eyebrows, making sure everybody knew what he was talking about.

Duo's eyes widened and he started to try and get away from Solo only to be pulled back and crushed against the blond's stronger torso.

"Quatre!" Duo called out. "He's your cousin! Call him off!"

"I don't think he'll listen to me, no matter how related we are," Quatre stated dryly, snuggling closer to Trowa.

In response, the unibanged teen wrapped his arm around the smaller teen, mirth sparkling in his eyes.

--

That following morning, Duo found himself in his bed, warm beyond belief and loving every minute of it. This was what he liked: waking up slowly to a beautiful morning, knowing there wasn't any school, and just laying about in a warm, comfortable bed.

Breathing in deeply and letting it out, he closed his eyes and snuggled into the mattress. When he thought about last night, he did not recall getting into his bed for some reason. Probably fell asleep on the couch or something and Quatre dragged him here. Hoping to get some more peaceful shut eye, he turned his body around, turning his head away from the window as he did so.

Then he stopped as he felt his face rub up against something solid and hot.

Shifting back slightly, he opened his eyes to see what this new mystery was. His eyes dilated as he found himself looking straight at a broad chest. His surprise soon faded and he now looked as if this was something that happened to him every day. Taking in the rest of the body that the chest belonged to, he figured out easily who was taking up so much of his personal space.

Solo.

What was it about his guy? Did he enjoy hogging up his personal space or something? Still, he couldn't complain about this. How many times had he wanted to wake up with somebody else next to him, not recovering from the aftereffects of an alcohol binge?

Hey…

Slowing moving his head so that he could look down, he lifted comforter up and looked under. Just what he thought. How he hadn't noticed that Solo had an arm wrapped around him, he would never know but that hand had just done something it shouldn't have.

While it was flattering that he had been groped, the groper was not conscious, thus taking the personal satisfaction, or whatever else it could be called, out of it. Sigh, this just wouldn't do.

Removing the appendage off his person, Duo squirmed away from the blond whose face now had a pout. Grinning wickedly, Duo set his feet on Solo's chest, then with all his might, pushed the blond back, sliding him to the end of the bed. Solo seemed just to remain in place for a bit before gravity took over and he disappeared from sight.

"What the hell?!" came Solo's loud bellow as his transition from unconsciousness to consciousness hit with a suddenness that had him awake and becoming a close personal friend of the floor. As he pushed himself up on to his hands and knees a weight on his back forced him to go plummeting back down to the carpet.

"Care to explain to me what you are doing in _my_ room, Tree Trunk?" Duo inquired wryly.

"It's a free country, I can do what I want!" Solo growled back, turning his head ever just so so he could aim a glare up at him.

"True, it is a free country," Duo replied, "but last I checked, sexual harassment is a crime."

"What? I haven't harassed you!"

"What do you call those little gropes you were giving me a couple minutes ago?"

"I was asleep a couple minutes ago! And I was having a good dream too!"

"Good dream or not, if you what to grope, do it when you're conscious."

Giving Duo a perverted grin, he said, "Conscious huh? So you mean I could—"

"Not right now," Duo interrupted. "The moment's passed anyway. Go take a cold shower or something if you have hormonal problems."

Standing up, putting his weight down on Solo's back, Duo smirked in triumph as he heard Solo huff beneath him and took a step towards the door.

Once the braided one was gone, Solo looked up to glare at the now open door. However, that glare turned into something more devious as the blond said to himself, "I love it when they play hard to get."

--

"Morning Mr. Winner," Duo greeted as he entered the dining room for his breakfast. It had been what, two days since he had food this early in the day?

Quatre's father looked up as the braided one and replied, "Morning to you too, Duo. Sit down and help yourself."

Noticing the morning paper on the table, Duo stole the comics section away as he filled his plate up with pancakes, sausage, bacon, the works, drowning it all with syrup before digging in and reading.

Man, it had been so long since he had a warm breakfast. Living on cold cereal was hard enough. He didn't want to have to go back to that any time soon. However, he would have to get as much as he could while he had the chance. He didn't know how long this arrangement would last after all, and one could be hospitable for so long.

It was after he had finished the comics and pilfered the front page that the two diners had company in the form of Solo. The blond had changed into some sweats and a wifebeater, his hair still damp from following Duo's suggestion of a shower. Duo had just finished drenching his second helping when Solo happened to glance at it.

"You're actually going to eat that?" Solo asked, seemingly shocked that someone could put so much syrup on so little food.

"I like syrup," Duo simply answered before taking a bite of his second helping. Swallowing, he added, "Especially maple."

Shaking his head, Solo sat down next to him and helped himself to his own breakfast.

Throughout all that, Mr. Winner seemed to have no interest other than focusing his attention on the business section of the newspaper.

Taking the time away from stuffing his face, Duo took a good look at his companion, taking in the exposed parts of the blond's physique, confirming the suspicions he had had about him. The guy definitely had some muscle on him and from what he heard, it was all tough.

"You work out much?" he asked conversationally.

Glancing at him, Solo answered, "Three times a week."

"Where do you usually go?"

"I use the gym here."

A thought occurred to Duo and he asked, "Really? I thought you liked giving your money away to…what did you call them again… That's right, 'so called fitness experts.'"

"I only said that to get on my cousin's nerves," Solo replied, taking an eye off his breakfast to glance at Duo. "Why you so curious all of a sudden?"

"Just getting some answers to some questions that have been floating around my head, that's all," Duo answered smoothly.

Smirking, Solo asked, "You interested in me or something?" waggling his eyebrows as he did so.

"You wish," Duo bluffed as he put his last morsel in his mouth. Knowing that he could leave his plate and eating utensils on the table, he said, "I'm going to go wash up. Enjoy your meal Tree Trunk."

Solo watched the braided one depart, his attention only being diverted at the sound of someone clearing their throat. Looking to his uncle, Solo raised an eyebrow in question.

His uncle merely chuckled before commenting, "First time I ever heard that, Tree Trunk. Very original."

Grumbling to himself, Solo returned back to his breakfast but he was soon prevented by his uncle's next words.

"I'd like to have a talk with you Solomon," Uncle Raberba stated, "and it concerns that young man. I want you to listen to what I say, understand?"

Knowing he had no way out of this, Solo sighed and gave his uncle his full undivided attention.

--

Duo always loved taking a shower at Quatre's. Mr. Winner had the top of the line shower heads and he enjoyed the way that the water would lightly massage his body, even as he scrubbed himself with body wash and shampooed his long, unbraided hair. He'd remain in the shower just letting the water spray on him for no other reason than to do so. The Winners had money; they could afford a high water bill.

Still, that didn't mean that the hot water would last forever and old habits forced him to turn off the flow of water. Now came the part that he didn't really like: squeezing the excess water out of his long hair. It was the only hassle he had with it, other than other people yanking it of course. Twisting the hair and squeezing as hard as he was able to, he was pleased to see water drip out of his long mane. Once he was finished here, there would really only be one thing needed to be done and that was to comb and braid the thing.

Drying himself off, he wrapped a towel around his waist and then another on his head to try and dry his hair off even more. He returned to his room, pulling out a pair of boxers and pants, putting both articles of clothes on before unwrapping the towel on his head as he fished out his brush.

Now for one of his most favorite times of the day…

As he sat down on his bed, ready to commence today's brushing session, a voice from the doorway intruded.

"Ya need any help?"

Sparing the intruding Solo a look, Duo replied, "Don't you ever knock?"

"Only when I feel like it," the blond countered, moving closer to the unbraided one. "Here let me do that."

"You think you can handle it?" Duo inquired, eyeing the blond.

Holding a few strands of long, blond hair, Solo said, "Heeellllllllllooooooo? I think I can handle it." Taking the brush out of his hands, he batted Duo's hands away gently and maneuvered himself behind him. "Just relax and I'll take care of it."

"Suit yourself," Duo said.

The first few strokes weren't comfortable as resistance was heaviest at this point but the more the brush combed through his mane, the more enjoyable it became. He leaned back on his hands and closed his eyes focusing purely on the pleasurable sensations he was experiencing. This was the first time he had let anybody brush his hair for him and now he could see the positives in allowing somebody to do it.

From his vantage, Solo smirked gently down at Duo, his strokes firm and gentle. He could easily imagine what Duo was feeling since he himself had long hair. It was always pleasurable to have someone brush your hair, especially if the person doing the brushing is experienced.

Duo was definitely enjoying this. He deserved it. From what he knew, life hadn't given him much and what it did give him was nothing good. Still, he wouldn't mind getting to know the guy even more. Perhaps one day, Duo could brush his hair…

Was it wishful thinking to think like that? Not when you are Solo Winner.

Resistance is futile.


	13. Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Author's Note: Quite a few of you have been questioning me as to the reason why Wufei doesn't like Duo in this fic. That question will not be answered in this chapter but all good things come to those who wait. In the meantime, enjoy this little morsel.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, fighting

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

Duo allowed himself to relax, taking in deep breathes and clearing his mind of all the cognitive clutter that had accumulated over the past few days. The meditative technique that Master Deng had taught him really was a gift that kept on giving. Now that he thought about it, he'd have to see Deng soon. He had missed him over the past few days and the guy was probably wondering where he was.

Too bad his school was always closed on the weekends; he'd have to go after school on Monday. He really needed to talk to somebody he knew would absolutely say nothing about anything he said.

Not for the first time, he wondered how Deng could be related to that stick-in-the-mud Wufei.

It was still quite early in the afternoon and the occupants of the mansion were just lazing about today. He hadn't seen Quatre and Trowa yet though he had an idea as to what those two were up to. Mr. Winner was absent, probably hiding away somewhere, not that he really cared since he had a live and let live relationship with the guy. That left only Solo who was also missing-in-action.

While the braided one did enjoy having time to himself, he almost missed the presence of the one blond that just never seemed to go away. It was like trying to deal with a case of Herpes; the guy was always popping up no matter where Duo found himself. To tell the truth, it was almost endearing.

Taking one last deep breath, Duo opened his eyes to survey his surroundings before he got down to the business that brought him into this part of the mansion. He was currently located in the Winner's home gym with the sole purpose of just exercising. He hadn't practiced since Tuesday and he couldn't let himself get rusty, at least not yet.

Standing up from the padded mat that he had sat down on, he began the first kata, just like Deng had instructed him when he first began. The old lessons came back readily to him and he performed each set easily and gracefully.

He knew immediately the moment he had company and he wasn't put off by who it was, nay. He had to admit, if there was anybody he'd like to watch him, it would be Solo… And where did that thought come from? He must really be desperate if he was looking towards his newest friend for the kind of attention he craved so much. Still, Solo wasn't a bad choice and the guy hadn't pushed him away. In fact, it had been him, Duo, who had been doing the pushing away.

Deciding to end early from his warm up, he looked at the blond and asked, "You enjoy the show?"

Blinking, Solo knew that he was caught (and how could he not, he was standing right out in the open!) and thus he closed the distance between them. "What was that you were doing?" he asked, truthfully curious.

"Just some warm-ups," Duo answered readily. "I can't let myself get too rusty."

"You know I can look out for you," Solo stated, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, but what about when you're not there," Duo countered. "Whenever Heero gets out of intensive care, trauma, or wherever you put him, he's gonna want some payback. Hell, Wufei might even know and make a move himself."

"Touché," Solo said. "So what are you going to now?"

"Well, I was just going to practice but since you're here, I think I can deal with a spar," Duo stated. "You think you're up to it?"

Smirking, Solo cracked his knuckles. "I think I can handle you, Short Stuff. I still owe you for that kick, don't I?"

"Better stretch first," Duo advised. "Unlike Heero, I'm not going to let you take me down easily."

"Oh, so you know you're gonna lose?"

"I didn't say that. I'm just giving you some friendly pointers, that's all."

"You better keep them to yourself," Solo told him as he began to lightly stretch. "You're going to need all the help you can get."

Shaking his head, a thought occurred to Duo. "Hey, do we need to wear any gear? You know, to prevent serious harm?"

"Lets wing it," Solo stated as he stood up to his full height.

Eyeing the blond for a moment, Duo shrugged. "It's your funeral," he shrugged as he fell into a defensive position.

Other than giving Duo a smirk, Solo did nothing in reply as he brought his fists up, ready for a brawl. Duo's practiced eye could immediately spot out the openings in Solo's stance and a dozen ways to throw the taller, and obviously physically stronger, blond off guard and attack but he decided not to and let the blond make the first move. It would be worth it to see the guy's face after he had been gently beaten into submission.

Sure enough, it was Solo who made the first move and Duo took note of how the blond moved, storing the information away for later use. Like the street brawler that he was, Solo swung a punch at him, backing it with a lot of power. However, with a gentle swish of his hand, Duo made the intimidating fist miss him, passing his head by mere inches. The green eyes widened in surprise but Duo allowed himself to remain on the defensive as he danced back and dodged more of Solo's powerful blows easily.

In Duo's mind, Solo's first big mistake was when the blond tried to imitate a high kick, leaving him defenseless when the braided one easily dodged to a side. To reward the foolish move, Duo moved up close for his first offensive and leveled three quick jabs into Solo's ribs before dancing away again. The blond stumbled away more in surprise than actually pain, if there was any. The green eyes narrowed and Solo became more serious, determined to knock the braided one down a few pegs.

This only worked against him as Duo let him attack him wildly, giving small strikes and a few gentle slaps to the face, all the while dodging and provoking the blond. Snarling, Solo let himself go all out but he was expending too much energy with each missed punch and kick along with constantly being "love tapped" by a grinning Duo who looked like he was having the time of his life.

"Quit playing around!" he growled as he missed the braided one by a hair's length once again.

"Alright," Duo replied cheekily and beginning his first frontal assault.

However, Solo wasn't going to just stand there and take it. As Duo rushed him, he lunged to tackle the braided one but Duo miraculously lowered himself and shoved his shoulder into the blond's gut, pushing up as he did so and the next thing Solo knew, he was flipping in the air to land gracelessly on his back, his lungs robbed of air. Coughing, he scrambled up to his feet and glared.

There was no way in hell Short Stuff was beating him and making a fool out of Solomon Winner!

Duo was coming at him again and for one of the first times, Solo actually thought what he was going to do next. Settling on a course of action in a matter of seconds, he charged at the braided one, copying Duo's previous move by using his shoulder to spearhead his attack. Duo was already moving to a side to avoid him, prepared to strike the blond in either his side or his back, Solo shot his arm out at the last second and clotheslined him.

Smirking in triumph, Solo was turning his body around, still full of momentum as he did so, but Duo had recovered far quicker than he had anticipated. The moment he had slammed down on the padded mats, he spun his body and kicked his legs out, tripping Solo as he continued to move forward. Falling forward quickly to the ground, Solo stretched his arms out and balanced his weight on his hands for merely a second before pushing up and flipping forward to land on his feet. Duo wasn't the only one surprised at this since Solo hadn't even known how he had managed to do that because it happened so quickly.

"And I was about to say 'timber,'" Duo pouted.

Glaring at the mockery, Solo clenched his fists and lost all control as he ran at Duo, wanting nothing more than to pound the guy into the floor. As he threw a punch, Duo spun and the next thing he knew, the world was flying by all around him until the padded mat below became intimate with his back once again. Above him stood Duo, balancing on one leg while his other was still up in the air. All in all, there was the sense of déjà vu about it.

Of course, that was exactly how Duo looked the last time he had floored him.

Chuckling as he put his foot down, Duo inquired, "Had enough yet?"

Not bothering to answer, Solo just let himself lay there, not moving a muscle. Plopping himself down next to his fallen opponent, Duo grinned at him.

"Guess it was a good thing that nobody was watching us, huh?"

Solo just gave him a look that was more eloquent than anything he could have said verbally.

Duo chuckled in response as he patted the blond on the shoulder conciliatorily.

"How do you do that?" Solo finally spoke. "You're the only guy I know who can beat me and I've been in a lot of fights. I don't even have a scratch or a bruise on me."

"I wouldn't say that so soon about the bruises," Duo warned goodheartedly. "By this evening, you should get a big one right there," he continue, poking the exact spot he had kicked him, a dull throb of pain emphasizing his point.

"You didn't answer my question," Solo pressed.

"Lets just say I had a good teacher," Duo answered. "The guy taught me how to study my opponent and take advantage of any openings presented to me."

"If that's so, then how did Heero beat you up?" Solo asked.

"I wasn't trying to fight then," Duo explained patiently. "I was just trying to get the Hell out of there and avoid a fight altogether but the bastard grabbed me by my braid. I don't think I have to tell you how much it hurts getting your hair pulled."

Solo nodded in sympathy, frowning at this bit of information. He kinda wished that he could have worked Heero over a bit more. Hair pulling was just a cheap, dirty trick that only a coward would use, even if the guy with long hair was trying to get away like Duo had. Still, that broken leg ought to have done something; he couldn't wait to hear about what would happen to the guy once he got out of the hospital.

"Hey! Earth to Solo!"

"Huh? What?" Solo was pulled out of his musing abruptly as he focused on his braided companion.

"I was asking if I could go over to my apartment," Duo asked, exasperated. It seemed this wasn't the first time he had asked it, nor the second.

"Why?" he asked.

"Just to pick up the stuff that we left back there," Duo explained. "I've made some living arrangements with your uncle and the only things that are mine here are my clothes. I'd like to get some of my stuff, that's all."

"Okay, sure," Solo replied, then pausing. "Why are you asking me though?"

"Cause you're the guy that packed my stuff and carried me out of my place," Duo countered. "Plus, you're the only guy in this place that knows where it is and you can drive so I won't be a burden to Mr. Winner or the help."

Solo frowned. "You think you're a burden? Do me a favor and don't think like that. You can never be a burden."

Duo's eyes widened at that. That was the first time a person had ever said that to him, at least to his face. Lost in his surprise, he hadn't noticed that Solo had managed to get back up to his feet. However, he was jerked out of it as Solo grabbed his hand and pulled him up to his feet.

"Don't just sit there," Solo said. "Get some decent clothes on. You want to get your stuff, right?"

--

Having borrowed Solo's suitcases, Duo had locked himself in his apartment bedroom so that he could pack some…intimate things that he didn't want anybody to see, especially in the light of day.

Thus, that left Solo to take a good look around the braided one's apartment, to inspect it again and see if there was anything that Duo would want to take with him. Once again, he had trouble comprehending the fact that Duo had so little to call his own. Since he didn't know what Duo did want, he didn't remove anything, preferring to examine everything instead, as if searching for some sort of clue to the mystery that was Duo.

Hearing the bedroom door open again, he waited for Duo to enter the living room once more before commenting, "No matter how many times I see this place, I still can't believe how little stuff you have here."

Duo refrained from commenting, not feeling up to snapping about the innocent comment. Perhaps it was the memories he had in the place that dulled his temper or something. None of his memories here were particularly fond except for the day he had first moved in and was able to revel in his independence. After that, everything soon became consumed in loneliness and quite a bit distraught. However, that still didn't destroy the fact that this was, or had been, his home for the past few years.

As Duo began to start taking down the few pictures he had hanging, Solo watched him worriedly. He had expected some kind of retort from the smaller male but none had been forthcoming. Had he struck a nerve or something?

Not one to let something like this fester, he blurted out, "Did I do something to offend you or something?"

Jerking out of whatever daze he had been in, Duo looked at Solo and shook his head negatively. "Naw, just thinking about some things, that's all."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

Sighing and taking a look around, "Is there anything I can do?"

Knowing what it was he was asking about, Duo answered, "I got almost everything; I just need a couple more minutes, that's all."

"I'll just take one of the cases down, okay?" Solo said, picking up the full suitcase. I'll wait for you in the car."

"Yeah, you do that," Duo told him absentmindedly as he began to take a last look around to be sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

Finding himself alone, Duo took the time to not only look around but think about everything. Even though he was reluctant to really go through with this, he still knew it was something he not only had to do but needed to do. This place, this small apartment was not full of happy memories. He needed to leave it and get not just a change in scenery but change of well being. He was always happy at Quatre's since the Winner family was perhaps the closest thing he had to a family, excluding Howard and his mother's friends of course.

Perhaps this would change his fortunes, maybe even his prospects. And why did that not sound right? He wasn't going to use his best friend like some clod in rich clothing. No, it was his future that looked much brighter than it ever had before. It was no longer bleak, no longer lonely. At least, it wouldn't be lonely now that there was a persistent blond shadow nipping at his heels…

Letting a smile grace his face, he zipped up the open suitcase and headed out the door to a bright, new, promising future.


	14. Everything a Teen Needs to Live

Author's Note: Very quiet on the home front. Well, I got a little surprise for you guys in this chapter, so enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, shounen ai

Everything a Teen Needs to Live

Duo was honestly beginning to wonder how many times he had sighed in the past few days. He knew it had significantly increased the day he had been introduced to Solo, that much he knew.

Well, he couldn't help let another one out as said blond was dragging him through the weekend crowd that usually populated the local electronics store.

Solo had been quite aghast to learn that he hadn't had the necessary electronic equipment that a teenager needed to have to live in this day and age; i.e. an iPod and other such things. They were things the braided one knew he could live without. He could satisfy himself with one of Quatre's compact CD players that he had lying about but Solo had deemed them ancient and declared that he would be taking him out to get caught up to speed with the technological revolution.

He had hoped the blond had forgotten about it but first thing on that Sunday morning, Solo had barged into his room and woke him up. After many obscenities and promises to disembowel the guy, Duo found himself having to quickly eat his breakfast before being kidnapped by said dead man for the day.

"And just how are we going to pay for this?!" Duo had demanded as he had been forced to ride shotgun, hoping to stop this madness before it had gotten too far.

Solo had simply given him a look and said, "Are you forgetting whom you're with? I got plenty of money in my bank account and I'll do whatever the Hell I want with it."

Knowing there was no way to get out of this, he had pouted the rest of the way before having to give it up as Solo dragged him out of his car.

He had no idea about all the stuff he found himself around. Sure, he knew about DVDs, video games, and CDs, but everything made no sense to him. In fact, it was Solo who was doing everything. The only thing Duo found himself doing was pushing around the shopping cart that the blond had stuck in his hands.

Might as well just go with it since it seemed there was nothing he could do to stop it…

"This is a good one!" the blond announced to him as he gently put the selected electronic into the cart. Duo simply stared at it and shrugged. It wasn't as if he understood all this stuff anyway.

"So, are we finished?" he asked hopefully.

Solo chuckled at him and rumpled his hair before leading him to another section. Once he learned exactly where Solo was leading him, he couldn't help but object.

"What are we doing with the computers?"

"One word: iTunes."

"Why the heck do I need an iTune? There's that iPod thing right here!"

"iTunes, not iTune," Solo corrected. "And you need the computer to use it so that's why I'm getting ya a laptop."

"Could I use yours or Quatre's?"

"I'm not gonna share mine cause there's stuff on it I don't want you to see and why should Q have to let you borrow his?"

"He can always get another one."

Solo raised an eyebrow at him but didn't comment on it. Instead, he continued with his previous argument. "It'll be easier on everybody if you had your own, ok? Now stop complaining and let me concentrate. I can't let ya get a crappy one, no matter how new it looks."

Indeed, it was going to be a long day…

--

It was only after the "necessities" had been picked out that some more desirable accessories were collected, namely CDs. However, old habits were hard to break, even with a determined blond at his side who seemed to have some sort of teasing comment about his preferences.

Once that was all said and done, bought and paid for, Duo once again found himself in shotgun as Solo finished putting the purchases in the backseat.

The moment the blond got into the driver's seat, Duo popped the question that had been on his mind for the last few minutes. "How much do I owe you?"

It was a good thing that Solo hadn't been driving , much less had the car started when his head snapped around to give him a look. "What the Hell do you mean by that?!" he demanded.

Sighing, Duo elaborated, "How much money do I owe you for the stuff? A few hundred bucks? A thousand?"

Then for the first time since he had met the blond, Solo cracked up in laughter. Duo paused as he heard the noise, not out of irritation but out of surprise because it was truly a genuine laugh come from him. It was pretty mesmerizing how deep it was, as if it came from a dark recess within Solo's body.

Getting a hold of himself, Solo snaked his arm out and pulled the braided one up against him. "You don't owe me a thing!" he said as his body still rumbled from his laughing fit.

Unable to help himself, Duo frowned. "But—"

"No buts!" Solo cut off. "I got these things for you because I wanted to. Think of them as a gift, a gift between friends."

"But I haven't gotten you anything," Duo trailed off.

"Think nothing of it!" Solo replied. "However, if you do want to give me something…well, I'll tell you what you can give me later. Right now, I'm getting a little hungry. How about yourself?"

Blinking, knowing that there was no way he could win or even score some sort of victory, Duo answered, "Sure, why not? What are you in the mood for?"

"Don't know yet," Solo admitted. "I'll just stop off at the first place I see."

"But what if I don't want to eat at the first place you see?"

"Too bad, so sad."

--

Taking a swallow from his soda, washing down the remains of his Big Mac, Solo allowed himself to indulge in the sight of Duo stuffing those world famous French fries down his gullet. While some people would be repulsed by the sight of ketchup being smeared over a teenager's face, Solo couldn't help but thing it was a bit endearing if not adorable.

Yes, he used the word adorable. Want to make something out of it?

Back to the subject at hand, just by watching how the braided one was eating, he could only wonder how somebody could hate him.

Which brought up an old question that had been on his mind for quite some time.

"Hey Duo," he said, capturing Duo's attention. "Can you tell me what that China guy at school, Wufei I think his name was, seems to hate you?"

"I wonder about that too," Duo answered. "I haven't figured it out myself. It just seems like from Day 1, the guy has had a grudge against me or something. At first he just ignored me but then one day he started getting really nasty to my face and it's been like that ever since. I've tried to be nice to the guy and everything but no dice."

"I can't believe that somebody would hate you for no reason," Solo stated.

"Better believe it," Duo muttered. "The entire school is that way. Sure, there are a few teachers that like me but that's it. Otherwise, I am America's most hated guy there."

"That's not right."

"Yeah but it's reality there and I've just given up on them. Except for you, Quatre, and maybe even Trowa, that whole place can go to Hell. I'm tired of being walked all over by those assholes."

"Then don't let them," Solo replied.

"Easier said than done," Duo said. "It just seems as if life itself conspires against me or something."

Solo snorted. "Don't think like that. It only seems like that cause you think like that and will come true if you continue to."

"Oh? And what do you suppose I should do?"

"Nothing," Solo answered.

"Nothing?"

"Nothing."

"You sure about that?"

"Positive."

"That sounds just too simple."

"That's because it is."

Duo sighed. "If there is one thing I've learned about my life, it's never simple."

"Why's that?"

Looking sharply at the blond, Duo snapped, "It's none of your business Tree Trunk."

Not deigning to verbally reply, Solo just raised an eyebrow and picked up a fry.

--

After returning to the Winner estate and putting all the equipment that Solo had generously purchased for him, Duo had left the blond to set up the laptop and everything since he had no idea about what did what.

Hey, so he was a little backwards. It wasn't as if he had had all the privileges that every teen thought they were entitled to. He had been saving up money for years since he couldn't spend it all in one place without suffering the long term repercussions of such stupidity.

So, as he waited, he grabbed himself a snack and wondered about what Quatre was up to. He hadn't seen him since last Friday. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Trowa since then either and he knew that the unibanged guy was also staying here for the weekend.

Eh, no use thinking about it. He had a good idea of what those two were up to anyway.

Now, how long did it take to set up all that stuff anyway?

Feeling two strong arms suddenly wrap around him, he glanced up at the blond, curious about that grin the guy had on. Nothing good could come from that, of that he was certain.

"I remember you saying that you wanted to pay me back for the all that stuff I got you," Solo began.

Sighing, Duo replied, "I knew it. So how much do I owe you?"

Solo chuckled. "I don't want anything material, Short Stuff."

His face scrunching up in confusion, Duo squirmed around in Solo's embrace so that he could face the blond. "Then what the—"

Unfortunately, he never got the chance to finish what he was saying because his mouth soon became preoccupied with something else.

That something else just happened to be Solo's lips.

Solo had claimed his lips gently and yet so possessively that Duo's mind was still trying to process what was going on. It would take longer to do just that as Solo's tongue snaked into his mouth and Duo's hands grew minds of their own as they were clutched tightly to Solo, as if trying to keep him from being swept away by the sensations he was feeling.

Then, without warning, Duo found himself panting lightly, his eyes staring out into space as if it held all the answers. He was vaguely aware that he had a light blush and that a hand was rubbing his back gently.

"I think that covers it," a voice from above commented before he felt a hand pat his shoulder and the source of the voice turn and leave.

Only two things dominated the thoughts of the braided one.

One was the question of what had just happened.

And the other…

That guy is a good kisser!

--

Walking jauntily down the hallway, Solo was nearly giddy. Damn that had been good. Sure the Kid could improve a bit but his taste—!

It had only been a few minutes and already he was craving to have another.

"So what are you up to?"

Glancing to see where the question, he was mildly surprised to see Quatre standing about in the hall, dressed in a robe that practically covered his body, his arms crossed over his chest, looking as if he had been waiting for him to show up.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Solo answered teasingly.

"Actually I would," Quatre replied. "Don't think I didn't see what you did to Duo."

"So what are you going to do about it?" Solo said, getting defensive. "You gonna say I can't go near him again or something cause that ain't happening."

"Whatever gave you that idea?" Quatre quipped. "I'm just looking out for my best friend. I just want to be sure you aren't jerking him around. He's had enough shit in his life already."

"And you think I don't know that?" Solo countered. "Look, I may not be the best kind of guy around but I don't string people along. I tell them straight up and front what is going on so that there's no hard feelings later."

"Have you told that to Duo?" Quatre asked, raising an eyebrow.

Solo was about to make a reply when he stopped. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't said anything of the sort to the guy. He hadn't even thought about it; everything he had done so far was…

Lowering his eyes sheepishly, he started scuffing his foot on the carpet.

If anything, that caused a smirk to grow on the smaller blond's face. "So, _Solomon_, what are your intentions towards my best friend?"

Swallowing, Solo answered quietly, "I don't know."

Raising an eyebrow in disbelief, Quatre pressed, "So why have you continued to flirt with Duo then?"

Much to his humiliation, Solo's face slowly became flushed. "I don't know."

"Don't you think you should at least figure out why you're doing this then?" Quatre asked.

Glaring at the smaller blond, Solo spat, "That's easy for you to say. You already have your hoity toity boyfriend who's willing to bend over backwards for you!"

"That's beside the point," Quatre replied. "I'm only interested in making sure that Duo doesn't get hurt."

"Is that it?" Solo asked. "I don't think you're doing this just for him."

"And what makes you say that?"

"Call it a gut feeling," Solo stated cheekily.

"Well, your gut feeling is wrong," Quatre said, frowning. "I am looking out for the one person that I have ever considered a brother and if you hurt him, not even being my cousin will keep you safe."

Raising his hands in the classic "surrender" pose, Solo grumbled, "Okay, okay, I got it. Don't get your balls tied into a knot over this. I'm not going to hurt Duo, okay? I could…" He suddenly trailed off, immediately catching Quatre's attention.

"Could what?" he pressed. "What could you do?"

Though he barely heard it, Quatre managed to make out the words, "…I could never hurt him…"

Not giving him the time of day, Solo turned on his heel and was gone from sight before he could say anything. Watching where the taller blond had vanished, a small smile grew on the Winner teen's lips.


	15. The Bold and the Blond

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, shounen ai, hints of kink

The Bold and the Blond

It had been sudden and happened without warning. One minute, Solo had been walking down the hall, still brewing over what Quatre had said to him and the next minute became a blur. Before he knew it, he was flat on his back with one angry Duo glaring down at him while straddling his waist.

Now if this isn't provocative…

"What the hell…" Duo grounded out, his violet eyes blazing.

Solo tilted his head innocently. "'What the hell' what?"

"Don't play dumb blonde with me!" Duo snarled. "What the hell was that back there?!"

"You're going to have to be specific if you want me to answer ya," Solo said slowly, risking more fury from the braided teen above him.

"That kiss, damn it!" Duo shouted.

"Oh that," Solo replied. "Well, it's precisely what it was. A kiss."

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Duo growled, his face coming dangerously close to Solo's face. "Now," he began, "you're going to tell me what I want to know or I will rip it off like a paper towel, got it?"

While that threat to remove little Solo was quite intimidating, Solo forced himself to remain cool. "I thought you were cute and I couldn't pass up the chance." Okay, that might not have been the best thing to say but it seemed to have an effect on the would-be castrator.

"Huh?" Duo's face was scrunched up in confusion, the eyes that once blazed with anger now smoldered with puzzlement.

Taking the opportunity presented, Solo flipped them over so that he would be on top…only to find himself pinned back onto the carpeted floor a few seconds later.

"Nuh, uh, uh," Duo chided malevolently. "I'm not done with you yet."

"Oh? What else do you want to do with me…or is it to me?" Solo asked, his grin perverted.

"Nothing that you're thinking about," Duo quipped.

"Aw man…" Solo whined.

"Mind out of the gutter!" Duo snapped. "Now let me get this straight. You just, out of nowhere, kiss me because you thought I was cute for…what?...a few seconds? Am I understanding this correctly?"

"Hell no!" Solo blurted out before snapping his mouth shut.

"Oh? Then why did you do it?" Duo pressed.

Yeah, why had he done it? He did know why but he wouldn't be talking anytime soon, nope, no way. His lips were sealed. Still, it didn't seem like Duo would be moving until he received some sort of satisfactory answer.

Which was something he was not willing to supply but would either have to or make something up.

So few choices…

"Are you just going to lie there or say something?"

Refocusing on the braided teen above him, the violet eyes boring into him, Solo smirked. "You really want to know why?"

Frowning, Duo shot back, "That's what I've been saying for the past five minutes already!"

"Well…" Solo trailed off mischievously, purposely drawing it out so as to build up the tension. "I wasn't lying when I said you were cute. You're cute all the time. I couldn't resist."

Seeing the look of surprise on the braided one's face was great and Solo was in the middle of mentally congratulating himself when Duo took action. What the teen did was not something that the blond had been expecting.

Duo had quickly leaned down and kissed him.

It had only lasted a couple seconds but that was more than enough to trump the Winner. His green eyes had widened to their furthest extent, shock clearly evident. His jaw had slowly opened to the point that he was gaping.

It was a good thing there weren't any flies about…

It was now Duo who was smirking. "Don't make too much out of this," he said. "I'm not that easy. If you want me, you're going to have to work for it, pal. You gotta earn my respect, friendship, and admiration before you can even contemplate those more…mature thoughts."

"And which ones do I have?" Solo asked, failing miserably to hide his eagerness.

Flicking the blond's nose and not answering, Duo continued to smile cheekily as he pushed himself off of him. Walking away from the blond, Duo paused at the door before giving Solo a cheeky look. "Which ones do you think you have?" he teased. With that, he vanished through the doorway.

Letting his head flop back onto the carpeted floor, Solo couldn't help but let an uncharacteristic grin form on his lips.

"I love it when they play hard to get," he sighed dreamily.

--

The rush that was overwhelming the braided teen's body was indescribable. He had never done something so…bold. Yeah, that was the word. Bold. Something so unlike him…yet it felt so…good. He wondered what exactly the blond was going to do next when…his logical side popped his bubble.

Damn it Maxwell, you're getting too far ahead of yourself! It's obvious that he's a player! He's just too damn good at doing that stuff! Plus, you hardly know this guy! You don't know what he's capable of…

However, that side of him was having to compete for his undivided attention against some more…explicit thoughts that kept interrupting the internal rant.

Damn, he really needed to get laid… Too bad he hadn't gotten laid yet so he could know what all the fuss was about. The curse of being a social outcast was truly terrible…

But still, he didn't know the guy very well. He had barely known him for a week for Christ's sake! He couldn't assume with this guy. The last time he had assumed had been with that guy Quatre had hooked him up with, a guy who happened to lack a certain piece of male anatomy.

However, he couldn't get out of his head the memories of the times when Solo's arms had been around him. He could remember those strong embraces performed by strong arms that were tough yet so gentle and a powerful body, from what he had seen of it anyway, that was so soft…

He was definitely a killer, somebody that needed to be watched, just in case. He had all the right combinations of looks and build that could win over anybody when a certain attitude or personality was displayed. There was no doubt in Duo's mind that the blond teen knew this and could wield them effectively.

That was the cold, harsh reality of it, no matter the evidence to the contrary. He hadn't gotten as far as he had in his life by being stupid.

Maybe he was thinking too much about this, maybe overdoing it a bit. What could he do to take his mind off of it though? Well, there was all that stuff Solo had bought for him. Maybe he could fool around with it, maybe learn how to use those iPod things he had been given.

Getting back to his room, he paused as he took in his latest guest. Quatre was sitting in the middle of the room, dressed in a robe and fiddling the newly bought laptop. Quatre more than likely had a better understanding of how to use, or maybe even set up, the thing. If it couldn't be plugged in and couldn't cook, the braided one had no idea how to use it and the laptop most certainly didn't fit into that second category.

"I didn't see you there!" Quatre suddenly greeted, grinning warmly at him over his shoulder. "When did you get the computer?"

"Your cousin bought it for me today," he answered as he walked into his room, plopping himself right next to the blond. "I have no idea how to set this stuff up and last I saw, Solo was doing that."

"He didn't do too bad of a job," Quatre commented with a smirk. "I was just tweaking a few things, that's all."

"Tweaking?"

"Just taking care of a few things that Solo missed, that's all. Where is he by the way?"

"Left him in one of the guestrooms."

Quatre raised an eyebrow. "And what is he doing in one of the guestrooms?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Duo muttered.

"Try me."

"Well, it started off with the guy kissing me in the kitchen. I kinda ambushed him and threw him into the nearest room," Duo explained sheepishly, a hand scratching the back of his head.

"Solo kissed you?" Quatre asked, apparently surprised. His face then twisted into a wicked look. "So how was it?"

"It was…" Duo paused, spacing out as he tried to find the right word. How could he describe something like that? Apparently, the look on his face seemed to give the blond the answer that he wanted.

"That good, huh?" he teased.

Snapping out of it, Duo retorted, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do," he cheerfully replied. "So, was it just lips or did he use tongue?"

Duo stared at him weirdly. "You did not just say that," he deadpanned.

"Of course I did. Now spill!"

"There ain't no way I'm saying anything Q so you might as well go find Trowa and get it out of your system. By the way, where is Trowa?"

"Where do you think?" Quatre answered predatorily. "He's taking a nice nap right now."

"That good of a workout, huh?" Duo commented.

"Yep," Quatre stated with pride. Eyeing the few CD cases on the floor, the blond directed his attention towards them. "You got some new ones, huh? Ooh! Where did you find this one! I've been looking for it forever! Can I borrow it for a little bit? Pretty please!"

"Right after I'm through with it," Duo answered. "Now, I need to ask a favor."

"Anything Duo."

"How do you do this iTune stuff? How do you get the music into the computer?" Duo asked, befuddled by all the high tech stuff.

"It's iTunes, with an 's,' and yes, I'll help you out," Quatre readily answered.

The course of the next few minutes was explaining and demonstrating how to use the iTunes program and how to get it all onto the iPod. Duo seemed giddy once one CD was loaded and completed and, bouncing like an excited kid, he was putting in the next CD, an enormous smile on his face.

It was moments like these when Quatre wished he had a camera on him.

As the blond Winner was leaving, he was stopped by one last question uttered by his braided friend. "What outfit are you wearing anyway? Is it #5 or is it #12?"

Smirking, Quatre glanced back and answered, "Neither. It's the #17."

"You really are playing rough with him, aren't you?"

"It's his new favorite," Quatre shrugged as he began to make his way back to his boyfriend. "I think he's had enough time to rest anyway. I'll see you later Duo."

Muttering a small prayer for the unibanged teen, Duo pushed the matter out of his mind and focused on more pressing needs.

--

"_It's good to hear from you again, Raberba!_" greeted the voice of Ezekiel Winner.

""It certainly is," agreed Raberba, speaking into the phone.

"_So how's Solomon?_" asked a worried Ezekiel. "_He hasn't fallen back into his old habits, has he?_"

"He hasn't yet," Raberba answered. "However, I will still keep an eye on him. I haven't forgotten why he is staying here in the first place. Anyway, the boy is doing well. In fact, he's made a friend here already."

"_A friend? Why am I suddenly on guard?_" Ezekiel joked, though he was anything but cheerful.

"I know who the young lad is; he's a friend of Quatre's as well," Raberba explained. "Solomon has taken quite an interest in him."

"_What kind of interest?_"

"Well, earlier today, I was told that he had taken young Duo out and bought him a few things using his own money. That's not all though. I noticed during dinner he kept looking at Duo."

"_How was he looking at him? He's not planning to hurt the boy, is he?_"

"From what I've seen, the intent is not there. However, Duo has his own demons and I think they might be able to really temper Solomon, show him how good the life he lives is and perhaps it'll be the catalyst for him to straighten his act. As much as I don't like it, I'm going to have to keep those two in close proximity with each other, whether they like it or not, even though it doesn't seem either would object to it."

"_What about my nephew? How's he taking to Solomon stealing his friend away?_"

"Oddly enough, I've never seen him happier. I think I might be getting some unwitting assistance from that quarter."

"_I hate it when you talk like that. It makes it sound like we're some sleazy criminals or something. It really puts a foul taste in my mouth._"

"I understand where you're coming from, unfortunately it's necessary. Solomon's on his last chance and he can't afford to screw it up unless he wants to find himself living without the Winner fortune keeping him comfortable. However, I think there is a real good chance that Solomon might be able to redeem himself and even secure his place in the future of WEI. My best regards go out to him in this endeavor; he really has begun to grow on me a bit."

"_At least something positive is coming out of this. I hate all this secrecy and everything that comes with it._"

"You don't have to tell me that twice Ezekiel. I'll call you later and give you an update on Solomon, if you wish."

"_I would really appreciate that Raberba. Thank you for all that you are doing. It really means a lot to me._"

"Think nothing of it. What are brothers for if not to help one another? If we can not depend on each other then who can we depend on?"


	16. Jealousy Has Two Legs

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language

Jealousy Has Two Legs

When the dreaded Monday finally arrived, Duo couldn't help but find his nerves high-strung. This would be his first day returning after the incident at school and he had this gut feeling that something or someone was waiting to pounce on him.

So yeah, it was a real confidence builder with his friends at his side, forming some sort of protective barrier between him and all the harmful elements of the world that were just waiting to get him. Yeah, that arm that Solo had slung around his shoulders as they walked into the school building was real comforting even though it tightened a bit when they reached the front doors as if trying to prevent him from turning and fleeing at the last moment, something Duo most wholeheartedly wanted to do at that moment.

There was a buzz going throughout the school, though, when they entered and, from the sound of it, it all focused on one thing: Heero Yuy and his condition at the moment.

The gossip of the subject was everywhere. It seemed to unify the whole student body as even some info was passed on to Duo himself, a real shock since most people ignored him on a daily basis.

And through it all, Solo just chuckled and shook his head while Quatre and Trowa were giving each other these smug looks every so often.

Waiting for first period to begin, a new rumor reared its head. According to the rumor, some criminal organization had beaten Heero up in a cheap attempt to take him out of this week's homecoming game.

That certainly surprised Duo. He had forgotten what time of the year it was. If he remembered correctly, last week was an off week for the team, something that had coincided with Wufei's aborted celebratory party. That was right; he couldn't believe how quickly the year had passed.

The arrival of Dorothy Catalonia generated a massive racket of voice, all demanding to know what the maneater of the school knew. It was no secret that Dorothy and Relena Peacecraft were friends; the blonde surely must have heard something from her pink friend.

Truth be told, she did. According to what she knew, someone had really worked Heero's leg over. She was told that the damage was more than enough to not only keep him out of the game but out of the sport of competitive football. He would not be able to play for the rest of the year nor ever again in a contest.

Duo could only stare in wonder at his blond friend, surprised he had gone so far just for him. Solo just winked at him and did his best to seem bored by everything. The braided one would only be brought out of his reverie temporarily when he caught Dorothy glaring at him for some reason. By the way she looked, could she have been…jealous or something? Maybe a bit possessive? Whatever it was, he didn't like it though the glare was cut short when Solo glanced her way.

As if on cue, the glare vanished instantly only to be replaced a small smile. As she moved closer to them, her small smile turned to a frown, just as if she was rehearsing something.

"You're in my seat," she stated stiffly to him. Duo could have sworn the room just got colder…

"But this is my assigned seat," he protested. "The teacher said that I could only sit here."

"What about Solo?" Dorothy countered. "He took someone's seat and hasn't given it back yet."

"That's because the guy who sits here hasn't come to take it," Solo drawled, butting in. "Plus the teacher doesn't seem to mind if I sit here."

"And she shouldn't mind if I sit there," Dorothy stated, tapping Duo's desk. "She didn't mind last time."

Wait, last time? Solo didn't seem to be fazed as he replied, "That's cause the old bat is blind or something. Anyway, don't you have your own seat?"

"Yes, and that seat is right here," Dorothy answered.

By now, the attention of the rest of the class was focused on them. Duo was slightly pink because of all the attention that he and the other two were receiving, making him quite uncomfortable. Why the hell were they making a scene? It was a damn desk, damn it!

Wanting to end this, he began to stand up and relinquish his seat when Solo's hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and forced him back down.

"You ain't going anywhere," Solo stated smugly. "Don't even try."

Duo just let out yet another sigh and obeyed the stronger blond. Dorothy, however, seemed a bit livid, even though she managed to mask it pretty well. Without saying another word, aiming one last glare at Duo, she turned tail and stalked off.

Already the whisperings of gossip could be heard and Duo knew that nothing good could come of this.

Glancing over at Solo, the blond looked as if he couldn't care less. The braided teen almost snorted at that. That idiot had no idea what he had just done. This was going to come back and haunt them before the day was over, of that Duo knew for certain.

--

Before a student's favorite period of the day (lunch) began, the school was called into an impromptu assembly that was being held because of the hospitalization of one of its students. It ended by a request from the local police if anybody had any information about the crime to contact them immediately.

Duo couldn't help but listen in disdain. Only a few days ago, he himself had been assaulted in the school restroom and nobody had done a thing about it except for Quatre, Solo, and Trowa. The very next day, Heero gets beaten up in an alley and suddenly people are demanding some sort of justice to be brought forth.

Well, they didn't have to stay too long and it was only a few minutes later he was sitting down to lunch with his constant shadow sitting right next to him. By that time, the gossip of what had happened in first period had spread throughout the student population. The braided one was not blind to the stares and the whispers that had followed both him and Solo all day thus far. And now he was about to give his blond companion a small piece of his mind.

"You do know what you've done, right?"

Solo looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean by that?"

"You got the whole school talking about you and Dorothy again but this time you've gone the whole nine yards and got me into it. What the hell were you thinking?"

Solo frowned at that. "I stand up for you and this is how I get treated? Remind me not to do that again."

"It's not that I don't mind you doing it," Duo explained, sighing again. "It's just that you did it front of a bunch of gossipers and you can bet your ass that this is going to be coming back to bite both of us in the ass. Next time, can you at least try and keep it, I don't know, more on the down low?"

Smirking, Solo ruffled his hair and replied. "Don't think I can do that Short Stuff."

"Can't blame me for trying," Duo grumbled. At the sight of Quatre and Trowa joining them, he asked, "So what took you guys so long? Playing tonsil hockey in the janitor's closet again?"

"No we were caught up in the crowd," Quatre answered, a blush not to be seen anywhere. "I swear that they keep walking slower and slower every day."

"Ha, ha," Duo taunted. "We were first in line."

"Lucky bastards," Trowa murmured in good humor, his eyes twinkling.

Unfortunately, before this good natured conversation could go any further, a foreign voice interrupted them. "Which one of you is the new kid?" the voice demanded.

Since the voice came from behind the pair of long haired teens, both Duo and Solo had to turn their selves around to look at the newcomer…er, newcomers.

The person who had spoken was in the center of the group that stood before their table. He was of average height, if not a bit shorter, had average brown hair and hazel eyes that were now blazing with concealed anger, and had his arms crossed over his chest. Duo knew who this guy was but it was momentarily escaping him at the moment.

"Last I checked, I was new," Solo drawled in answered, looking bored at their presence. "Who wants to know?"

"I do," the guy snarled.

"And who might you be?" Solo inquired.

"Dorothy's boyfriend," the guy stated smugly.

Now Duo remembered who this guy was. Known throughout the school as Walker, he was Dorothy's current boy toy and completely smitten with her. From what he heard about the guy, he had been crushing on Dorothy since junior high and only a couple months ago had gained the "honor" of becoming Dorothy's "boyfriend." Duo couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy; Walker was in the mindset that Dorothy was as pure as an angel and could do no wrong.

The poor deluded fool…if he only knew…

Solo seemed to be struggling with containing his amusement at this proclamation. "Are you serious? You're going out with that slut?"

"Don't you dare call her that," Walker growled, eyes narrowing dangerously. "She is not a slut! She is the fairest girl in the entire school and as pure as an angel. How dare you call her by such a name!"

Solo face was reddening but not in anger. No, it was a far different emotion. Finally, he couldn't hold it anymore and he burst out in laughter. Oddly enough, it was infectious and Duo found himself laughing along with the blond. Quatre let out a snort from behind and made no attempt to keep his amusement in while Trowa chuckled.

And all this did was to piss off Walker even more. Had he taken a look at his friends, the slighted teen would have noticed that his buddies were successfully doing their best to keep their own laughter from coming out.

"Shut up you assholes!" Walker demanded.

By now, Solo was holding his sides as he continued to laugh. Those in the nearby vicinity were curious as to what was causing all the noise and were focusing their attention on them. Becoming aware of the attention, Duo's laughter died off and he grew uncomfortable. Attempting to scoot himself away from his laughing friends and put some distance between him and them, he found himself pulled back suddenly by none other that Solo who was using him as a prop to keep him from falling over.

Regaining just enough to control, Solo replied, laughter still coloring his voice. "You have got to be kidding me! 'Pure as an angel?' You have got to get your priorities straight! That slut has been hitting on me since day one!'

"You lie!" Walker hissed.

"Why don't you ask some of our classmates?" Solo suggested. "They'll be able to confirm what I'm telling you."

However, at this point, Walker was not following any logical reason. "You're just asking for an ass kicking, aren't you?" he snarled.

"No, not really," Solo shrugged.

"After school," Walker stated. "You and me. We'll settle this."

Solo frowned. "Sorry, I have other plans this afternoon. How about tomorrow after school? I'm free then."

This time, it was Walker who frowned. "I'm not going to be here tomorrow. Doctor's appointment."

"How about Wednesday?" Solo suggested.

"Football practice."

"Thursday?"

"Practice."

"Friday?"

Walker gave him an incredulous look. "Where have you been hiding? That's the homecoming game!"

"Okay, okay, how about next Monday?"

"Fine with me," Walker smirked. "I'm going to make you regret even looking at Dorothy."

"Whatever you say," Solo shrugged and turned back to his lunch.

Just like that, it was over and Walker was leading his buddies away. Duo could only stare incredulously at the blond. "What the hell," he demanded. "What was all that?"

Solo looked down at him. "Just scheduling a fight, that's all."

"I didn't know you could do that," Quatre commented.

"When two guys understand one another, things like that happen," Solo said.

"And when did you guys begin to understand one another?" Trowa inquired, amused. "From what I saw, you two were enemies."

Solo refrained from answering, smiling smugly to himself with some sort of knowledge that the others didn't seem to possess. Seeing as no answers would be coming from the blond, Duo tried to resume his own lunch when he noticed that his tray was a bit further away from when he last remembered.

Frowning, he looked up at Solo and asked, "Do you think you can let go of me now?"

Solo paused only long enough to give him a look that asked "do you even have to ask?"

Sighing, Duo slumped up against the blond, muttering, "It doesn't hurt to try."


	17. A Tale of Two Changs

Author's Note: We are drawing nearer to the chapter that explains Wufei's problem with Duo. However, it is not this chapter that answers that question. Just hold on a little longer, my readers. I've checked and I can confidently say that the chapter that holds this elusive answer is only two chapters away! Until then, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, a little bigotry

A Tale of Two Changs

For the rest of the school day, it was pretty uneventful. No, it was only until after school that the day had its next out-of-the-ordinary event happen.

To tell the truth, Duo had been expecting it to happen all day. He was only mildly surprised when it had finally taken place, due more to the time of day it was happening more than the actual event. He had managed to sneak out of Quatre's overprotective watch but had unfortunately not avoided his constant blond shadow when the two were confronted by none other than Chang Wufei.

He had been waiting for them out of sight near the school gates, ambushing them both the moment they had walked past the entrance.

"I would have expected barbarism from this piece of trash but from one of your status," Wufei had started, catching both of their attentions, "how is it possible that you truly are a Winner?"

"Maybe it's because my dad is one," Solo retorted, growing defensive.

"What you have done to my friend was inexcusable and dishonorable," Wufei ranted.

"Oh? If what I did was 'dishonorable' then what your little boyfriend did to Duo was worse!" Solo growled.

"What did you say?" Wufei hissed.

"Huh?" Solo asked puzzled.

"I am not a weak faggot," Wufei snarled. "If that piece of trash had any honor in him, he would have killed himself instead of flaunting it about and laying on his back like a woman!"

Solo only raised an eyebrow. "Where do you get off?" he inquired. "What makes you oh so high and mighty? What makes Heero any better? Duo was trying to get away and only fought in self-defense and I gave Heero his chance at fighting me. He deserved worse if you ask me and you aren't in the position to be handing out moral judgments, you little prick."

Solo's voice had risen steadily and Duo could only stare at his companion in wide-eyed wonder as the blond stood up to Wufei. No one had ever done that for him before…

"And why are you defending this fag anyway?" Wufei demanded, gesturing towards him.

"Maybe because he's my friend and that's what friends do for one another," Solo snapped. "But answer me this. Why do you hate Duo so much? What'd he ever do to you?"

"I won't even dignify that with a response," Wufei growled, a sore spot obviously hit though what it could be, Solo had no clue. "He knows what he did. He deserves everything that's been done to him and worse."

Duo had no idea what Wufei was talking about but the venom in his words was toxic enough to actually hit a nerve or two. What did he mean he knew what he had done? It didn't make any sense to the braided one.

The same thoughts seemed to be running through Solo's head as well as his next question was, "What the hell are you talking about? No one deserves to be treated like he has been!"

"That only shows what you know!" Wufei retorted. "That little shit doesn't even have the balls to admit what he did to me to you. Is he really your friend?"

That was the final straw. Duo had taken so much of Wufei's verbal abuse but now the proverbial camel's back had broken. He was sick and tired of this old charade and now his first real friend in a long, long time (Quatre not counted since he was a best friend) was taking the brunt of a verbal assault aimed at him and here he was not doing anything about it.

Pushing Solo aside with a surprising amount of strength, Duo got right up close to a surprised Wufei and shouted in his face, "Why don't you go fuck yourself and get an enema or something to get rid of that damn tree that's shoved up your ass Chang! I don't know what the hell I did that made you hate me and I don't know what you are even talking about! I've tried to be nice to you but all you've done is given me more and more shit that I don't need to deal with! I'm sick and tired of it all and if you have a problem with me, why don't we just settle this right here and now and get it all over with!"

Wufei looked shocked but then his haughty self made its reappearance. "As if you couldn't get any lower," he sneered. "I don't have to explain myself to you and I refuse to lower myself to your level."

"And what level is that?" Duo snarled vehemently. "From my point of view, you're the one whose level is low! If there is anybody who is dishonorable around here, it's you!"

"How dare you accuse me of that!" Wufei shouted. "Why I ought to—"

"Be leaving before you get your ass kicked," Solo interrupted. "We both have better things to do than to listen to your annoying voice so get the hell away from us."

Snorting, Wufei replied, "I might as well since I wouldn't want to get my hands dirty from touching the both of you disgusting fags."

Upon turning around, it was now that the three teens became aware of the crowd of spectators who had witness the argument. All of them were students and all of them were observing Wufei with looks of displeasure. Without a word, the crowd slowly began to disperse, none of them giving any of them a look. To Duo and Solo, that meant little, but to Wufei it was devastating.

Shooting one last glare at the two long haired teens, Wufei stomped off after the departing crowd in an attempt to fix whatever damage that may have been done to his reputation.

There was only silence that existed between the two teens before Solo broke it with a question. "Want to go back to the house?"

Duo shook his head. "I have something I need to do first."

"And what's that?" Solo asked.

"I need to talk with Master Deng and get some advice from him," Duo answered.

"Why not just talk with my uncle?"

"Because Deng is wiser. I can always depend on him because he hasn't given me any bullshit yet even though I might not understand it at the time. I just need to get my head leveled, okay?"

"Fine," Solo resigned, "but I'm coming with you, just in case."

"Just in case what?"

Smirking as he snaked his arm around Duo's shoulders, he replied cryptically, "Just in case."

--

Since he wasn't in the mood to stop and smell the roses, metaphorically speaking, Duo arrived at Deng's in no time. However, he would have to wait until after the next class was over before he could talk with the martial arts instructor. Since Deng hadn't a need for an extra assistant, Duo instead opted to help clean the place up while he waited. Solo then made the mistake of asking if the braided one needed any help…

Shoving a mop into his hands, Duo ordered him to go clean the locker room. Grumbling, in was obvious Solo wasn't a happy camper. Yet, he still obeyed the smaller teen and disappeared into the locker room.

Meanwhile, Duo stuck to the main room, wiping down the areas of the place that weren't either covered in mats or in use at the moment.

Time definitely seemed to fly past him because the next thing he knew, the current class was over and Deng was standing right behind him with his usual small smile on his face as he watched the braided teen.

"What is troubling you, lad?" Deng asked, his small smile remaining on his face.

"Well, a lots happened to me over the past few days and I need someone with a cool head to help me understand it all," Duo began to explain before looking around and asking, "Do you think we could go talk somewhere a bit more private?"

"Follow me," Deng answered, leading the braided one towards his office. Settling down in one of the chairs, Duo smiled appreciatively at the elder man who stated, "I take it that the recent events have been the primary reason why you have been absent since last Tuesday."

"You would be correct," Duo answered.

"So, tell me, what's on your mind," Deng queried, his hand gesturing for him to continue.

"I guess it started last Wednesday," Duo began. "I learned that my father is up to his old tricks again. I needed to move out to a new place in order to live on the money he is forced to pay. Anyway, the next day, I get cornered by Wufei's friend, Heero. I tried not to fight and get away but the asshole took advantage of that and beat me up."

"I think I need to have a talk with my nephew," Deng murmured to himself but remained silent so that Duo could continue.

"Well, while I was lying there, I was thinking that perhaps I should just give up, you know? It didn't seem like anything I could do would change how people would treat me. A guy even came in, saw me, but did nothing to help."

"I hope you reported this boy."

"Didn't recognize him. I couldn't get him then and I probably wouldn't ever."

"So then what happened?"

At this, Duo let out a small smile of his own, something that Deng took note of immediately. "Solo," Duo simply stated, the smile growing slightly.

"You mean that young man who came in with you?" Deng asked.

"The same," Duo confirmed. "He, Quatre, and Trowa took me to the nurse's office."

"Tell me, what is so special about this Solo?"

"I don't really know. He's been looking out for me since the first day we met. Except for Quatre, no one has ever done that before. And when I was laying there, he just picked me up and he held me."

Deng's smile widened. "How did that make you feel?"

"Wanted," Duo whispered. "I felt like there was actually somebody that really cared…let me rephrase that: somebody _my_ age that cared, cared what would happen to me, how I felt, things like that."

"Did he do anything to make you think like that?"

"When I was at the nurse's, he held me, Quatre too, but he let me…cry on him. I think I messed up his shirt but he didn't seem to care about that. Then later on, for some reason, he showed up at my apartment and packed all my clothes and took me back to Quatre's."

"I don't imagine you took that standing."

"Damn right. He had to carry me to his car and I think he enjoyed that. Anyway, he took me out shopping with him yesterday and he bought all this stuff, half of which I have no idea how to operate, and said that I didn't need to pay him back."

"That was nice of him."

"Yeah, it is, but I'm still trying to figure out exactly why he did that."

"Could it be he just wanted to buy you something?"

"Could be, but I can't help but think there was some ulterior motive. Most people I know only give me stuff because they want something from me."

"True but maybe it could just be that he wanted to buy you something? It sounds to me as if you are trying to sabotage whatever relationship that is developing between you and this Solo out of your own insecurities and suspicions. Sometimes you just need to sit back and let things happen."

"But—"

"No buts. Now take a look at what has been given to you. You have been given the one thing that you have yearned for for so long and you are trying to tamper with it so that you can find something that can confirm your fears. Things are not as complicated as people can make them out to be. Just loosen up and don't look too deep into things, okay?"

"Alright…"

"Now, is there anything else?"

"Well, there was something that happened after school but it involved Wufei, your nephew."

"Explain."

"Well, for some reason the guy doesn't like me and he said I knew what I did to make him mad at me but I don't know what he's talking about! All I've ever been is nice to him and he's been nothing but a, pardon the expression, pain in the ass."

"So what did you do?"

"I kinda yelled up in his face."

"Did you really?"

"Yeah…"

"Good."

"Wha?" Duo stared at the man in confusion.

"Just because we share the same blood doesn't mean we are the same," Deng chuckled. "Most of my family is very prideful. While having some pride is not a bad thing, having too much is. It makes one intolerant and rigid, creates a 'because I am right you are wrong' mentality, and often it ends up alienating those they seek companionship with. My nephew is not the only one who needs a wake up call but there are just some people who refuse to change. The ability to be flexible and easily able to adapt to changes is needed if someone is to survive in this new world.

"Now, you did say it was one of my nephew's friends who attacked you, correct. I'll have a little talk with Wufei about keeping his friends in line. By the way, where is your attacker now?"

Duo had the decency to flush red in slight embarrassment. "You want the truth?"

"That would be nice."

"Well, Solo kinda took matters into his own hands and put Heero into the hospital."

"While I am not…overly pleased with such actions, still, I guess I could let this one slide. However, I want you to reign in your friend Solo. It wouldn't be fair if I asked only Wufei to do so and not you as well."

"Well, I'll try but Solo isn't the kind of guy who likes to do what others tell him to do."

"Just try, that's all I can ask. Onto another subject, where will you be living from now on? If you need a place to stay, my doors are always open."

"While I appreciate the offer, I have something worked out with Quatre's father, Mr. Winner. The guy's going to let me board there until I go to college, something I wholeheartedly intend to do."

"That's very smart. A college education will open up many doors for you."

"It will do that but I need to be going before Quatre throws a fit wondering where I am and calls a rescue party to go look for me. Thanks for your time Master Deng."

"Anytime Duo. Remember, my doors always open."

"See you later." With a smile on his face, Duo got up and left the office.

Deng watched the braided teen as he met up with his blond friend and leave before his facial features hardened. He was going to have to go to his brother's house and have a little chat with his nephew. As much as he disliked having to deal with any member of his family, this was something that needed to be dealt with.

He couldn't let the Chang family honor be tainted by even his own family. That was something that he was going to have to hammer back into their heads again.

Well, he always liked a challenge. He would relax himself first before going to the lion's den and dealing with this matter.


	18. There's Trouble in Paradise

Author's Note: You guys really seem to like Deng a bit. Yet, we are drawing closer to the answer you've all been waiting for. Just a little bit longer my friends. In the meantime, enjoy this latest chapter that I have painstakingly written for you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, a little bigotry

There's Trouble in Paradise

"So what'cha talk about?" Solo asked the moment the two stepped out of the building.

"It's none of your business," Duo stated.

"Ah, c'mon!" Solo whined, his arm taking its customary roost on Duo's shoulders once more. "Were you talking about me? Ooh! You're blushing! You can't hide it from me anymore! Tell me! Tell me!"

"Are you pretty good friends with the ground?" Duo asked out of the blue.

"No," Solo answered automatically, confused.

"Would you like me to reacquaint you with it?" Duo threatened.

"I'll pass…" Solo answered warily.

"Then talk about something else," Duo stated, smirking in triumph.

Solo, instead of talking aloud, grumbled to himself, his face lighting up suddenly and soon followed by a mischievous grin. Gently lifting his arm off Duo's shoulders, he stuck his foot in front of Duo as smoothly as he possibly could in order to escape suspicion. Duo's eyes widened comically as he tripped over the manmade obstacle and down he went. He closed his eyes in anticipation of the sudden stop at the end when he felt nothing but air.

Cracking open an eye, he could still see the sidewalk even though it wasn't rushing up happily to meet him. Now that he was taking in his surroundings, he realized that Solo had wrapped an arm around his torso and caught him. Slowly peering up at the taller blond, he gulped audibly at the predatory grin he was receiving.

"Ya all right Short Stuff?" he asked, his grin widening. "Looks like you missed your step. Need any help getting back to the house?"

Eyes widening in fear, Duo attempted to say "no" but was unable to as the world seemed to fly before he felt something solid in his gut. There was no way this could be happening. Solo hadn't just tossed him up onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes just now.

Steadying the braided one on his broad shoulder, Solo called out happily, "I got ya Short Stuff. We'll be home before you know it!" Then, before Duo could release a sound of protest, the blond started marching away, his pace bouncing Duo up and down with each step.

Finally regaining some of his wits, Duo began to squirm and kick his legs in protest, all the while demanding, "Put me down you asshole! Don't make me kick your ass from here to Timbuktu you giant—"

"Dick?" Solo interrupted, grinning. "Why thank you. I do have a pretty big jewel down there."

"Son of a…" Duo growled, his violet eyes narrowing to the point they were mere cracks.

And then he felt something…or someone pinch him on his…

--

Heero Yuy glared down at the leg cast he was forced to wear, as if it offended him by its mere existence. That was probably not far from the truth since it was the physical representation of a destroyed future.

He would never be able to play football competitively ever again. There went the promised scholarship he would have received once he had led the team to victory at the championship. There went the free ride through college. There went all his childhood hopes and dreams and all for what?

That puny, long-haired loser.

Duo Maxwell was responsible for this. Because of that rat's very presence, he was nothing now. Just another athlete whose skills had abandoned him. What had he done to deserve this? He had kept in perfect, peak physical condition, made perfect grades (except in algebra, he always had trouble with that), had the most perfect friends. And then this had to happen.

He could have understood this if it had been somebody from another team who had done this. Jealousy could have help appeased his anger somewhat but no, that wasn't the reason. It was a rich, blond faggot who was getting even for a braided rat who didn't deserve to live.

It was obvious to him. He had followed the new kid around for the first couple days and had studied the interaction between Solo and the rat. That blond fag had to be in love with the guy or something by the way he draped himself all over him. Unfortunately, the guy was strong, much stronger than he had given him credit for, and that underestimation resulted in this.

To say he was pissed was the weakest word that could be used to describe the hatred he had for those two.

But that was not all, no, far from it.

All the while he was recuperating, he was forced to endure the company of his personal (perfect (no one who wasn't perfect had the right to stalk him!)) stalker, Relena Peacecraft. She tended to his every need, even when he didn't have any. That would be nice under any ordinary circumstance but combine that with the ever-persistent chatter she brought along with her, it was torture!

Yet, despite all the indifference he showed her (he had always been told that perfect gentlemen never hit or yelled at girls), she didn't seem to get the clue that he didn't want her near him. So, when Monday came around, he was glad because that meant she would have to leave him alone for a few hours and he could finally get some peace and quiet.

No such luck.

She stayed, playing "hookie" so she could stick by his side and "nurse him back to health."

Why, oh why, hadn't Solo just killed him and be done with it? He was doomed to be in this girl's company and his ruined future was staring him straight in his face everyday.

It just wasn't fair!

"Do you need anything Heero?" Relena chirped for perhaps the hundredth time…or was it the two hundredth time, he always kept perfect count…that day.

"I'm fine," he answered in a dull monotone that only served to mask his ever-growing rage.

"Well, if you need anything…" Relena began.

"I'll let you know," Heero finished robotically.

How many times had he heard that? He could finish her sentences now! It was only a matter of time before he began to start saying what she was going to say before she said it. That would just make life perfect, wouldn't it? Still, she was beaming down at him and he could have sworn that her adulation of him had just reached another unbelievable notch.

As the pink bitch began to rattle on about stuff that he had no interest in, Heero stewed in his own anger, blocking out the voice of the annoying girl right next time. He'd get even. Just they wait. They haven't seen the last of Heero Yuy! He'd show them why nobody messed with him! He'd not only show them but everybody!

And then the praise he'd see in Wufei's eyes… It would be more than worth it. His friend's approval mattered to him more than even his own parents. Wufei was destined to go places, destined to be big and powerful, no matter what obstacles got in his path. He was the only person to have ever received Heero's genuine friendship and no one else had achieved that since.

"Um, Heero? Did you hear what I asked?"

Damn it, that voice managed to intrude itself into his thoughts. What had he done to deserve this?

"Can you repeat it please?" he asked.

"I was mentioning that incident in the cafeteria where the Winners accused you of beating up Mr. Maxwell," Relena repeated readily. "I was just curious as to why they would say such a thing. Maxwell didn't show up Friday at all but he did today. Do you know why they would say such a thing?"

Just perfect. Even when he's in the hospital, that braided rat has to somehow be mentioned.

So, without thinking, he stated, "Maybe it's because I did beat him up."

He was surprised by the look that Relena was giving him. She looked so surprised and shocked that her idol would do such a thing. He mentally snorted. Was she just getting it now? How stupid could she be?

"You mean…you…" she had trouble asking so he decided to skip to the chase and bluntly put it to her.

"Yes, I did," he proclaimed. "The little fag had it coming. He was—"

He didn't even get the chance to finish. At that point, Relena had grabbed one of the vases of get-well flowers he had received and dumped the contents onto his face, water and flowers all.

He sputtered as he spat out anything that had gotten into his mouth, greedily sucking in as much air as he could before glaring at the girl. "What the hell was that for?!" he demanded.

"I can't believe that I actually liked you…" Relena whispered, her voice barely audible even to Heero.

"What the hell are you blabbering about now?" Heero demanded angrily.

"I was willing to give my heart to you," Relena continued softly. "I loved you for so long because you were…handsome, strong, perfect…but now…now I find out who you really are. You're nothing but a big bully! All you care about is yourself! You beat up that defenseless boy and for what? Gratification? To please your friend Chang? What was it?!"

Relena's voice rose steadily to the point that she was screaming at Heero, tears running unchecked down her cheeks.

"I can't believe that I liked you! I've wasted so many years of my life chasing after you!" Relena ranted.

"Will you SHUT UP!!" Heero roared.

"NO!" Relena screamed back. "No, I will not shut up. I've let you walk all over me in the hopes you would return my affections but you never did. I'm tired of this and I'm going to move on Heero. Why don't you find someone else to chase after you?"

Turning on her heels, she stomped away, pausing at the door to say one last thing.

"I used to think you were perfect," Relena said, "but now I know you're anything but. You are imperfect and you will _never_ be anything more."

Heero could only stare flabbergasted at this. Imperfect? He…wasn't perfect? Impossible. She was wrong! He was perfect and she was his (perfect) stalker! What was she going to do now? Stalk somebody else? No way in Hell! He'd get her after him again, just she wait! Once he was out of the hospital, he'd get back everything he had lost and get some payback on those fags as well.

They hadn't seen the last of Heero Yuy!

--

"What the hell happened to you two?!" Quatre demanded the moment he saw his two long haired friends on the front porch. "I've been worried sick wondering where you two have been!"

"I had to go to Deng's for something," Duo casually answered.

"But what happened to Solo?"

Glancing behind himself to look as the taller blond, Duo smirked. "Oh, him? He took certain liberties he wasn't entitled to, that's all."

Taking a good look at his cousin's appearance, Quatre raised an eyebrow. The blond's hair was in disarray and his hands were guarding a certain part of his anatomy protectively, eyes shooting wary glances as the braided one, his feet to be more precise as if he didn't trust them.

Sighing, Quatre asked, "What did he do?"

"He threw me up onto his shoulder like I was some kind of dead weight then he pinched my ass!" Duo stated, leveling an evil look at the taller blond who automatically took a step away from him.

"And what did you do about it?" Quatre asked wryly, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Not a word," Solo's high-pitched growl cut in, green eyes glaring daggers into the braided one.

"Wouldn't think of it," Duo replied cheekily. "I'll let you tell Q about it. So, can we come in now?"

Since the last question was directed at Quatre, the smaller blond just shook his head in amusement and stepped out of the way, letting Duo in first. Solo remained where he was, waiting for the braided teen to put some distance between them before gingerly walking forward.

"I hope you learned your lesson," Quatre commented.

At this, the pointed glare that Solo wore melted away only to be replaced with a perverted grin. "He's a firecracker!" he stated, the high tenor still embedded in his voice.

"So you didn't learn anything," Quatre stated more than questioned.

"Oh, I learned something," Solo chuckled. "I know what to do to press his buttons! Man, he so cute when he's mad!"

"Did you just say 'cute'?" Quatre asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I did. Want to make something out of it?"

Holding his hands up in mock surrender, Quatre replied, "You know you can only piss Duo off for so long, right?"

"He won't take things too far," Solo stated confidently. "He likes me back. I just know it!"

"And what makes you think that?"

"It was what he talked about to that Ding guy, or whatever his name is."

"And he told you this?"

"Nope, I figured it out all by myself!"

"Your mother must be so proud of you."

Solo was about to proudly reply to that, his mouth open and everything when he paused, his left eye beginning to twitch. "That was an insult, wasn't it?" he inquired, looking darkly at his cousin.

"You figure it out," Quatre said cheekily before narrowly escaping Solo's grab and disappearing into the mansion.

With his handicap, there was no way Solo would be about to chase after Quatre but he swore to himself that he wouldn't let him get away with it.

This meant war!


	19. The Answer You've All Been Waiting For

Author's Note: As the title suggests, this is the chapter that you all have been waiting for, dieing for. That's right, you read correctly. The answer you've all been waiting for has come at long last! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, shounen ai

The Answer You've All Been Waiting For

A good night's rest can cause one to forget a lot of things.

That includes Solo's personal declaration of war on his cousin, the plot for retribution having completely escaped him by the time he woke up that morning. He would remember it eventually but for now it was not as important as the chance to rudely awaken Duo and see how angry he could get him.

However, before he could get that far, he found himself mesmerized by the sight of seeing the braided one in deep sleep. Without the teen's personality in control of his face, there was just something that made Solo want to stand there and watch him sleep. There was such peacefulness on the troubled teen's face, an innocence of that nature really became the braided one and it should have been a crime for Duo to wake up.

The bed that Duo laid in only served to amplify this, making Duo's form seem smaller than it really was. The image of cradling the braided one in his arms upon finding him in the restroom after Heero beat him up made a brief appearance, reminding him just how delicate Duo was.

And from what he knew of him, Duo's father, for some unknown reason, hated him. Duo never spoke about his mother, not even when he had told him a little bit back at his apartment the day he had followed Duo there. Howard, Duo's lawyer, also made no mention of her.

Then there was Wufei. What was his problem with Duo? What was it that he was accusing Duo of doing? Duo was just as baffled and confused by the accusations himself so there was no help in understanding it from that party. Heero, he kinda figured, just followed the Chinese's lead.

There were so many people that hated or disliked this one person out of billions of people on this planet and yet there was no clear, concise reason that he knew of to explain it.

Sitting down carefully onto the bed, so as to not wake Duo up, Solo continued to look down at the braided one, his hand slowly reaching out to stroke the long, unbraided hair… Heh, funny, he hadn't noticed that it was unbraided… Wait…was that…a smile on Duo's face. The teen mumbled in his sleep and leaned his head closer to Solo's hand. The blond managed to hold back a chuckle at the antic.

He was so adorable…

What the hell was happening to him? He only knew this kid for about a week and already he had softened him up. It wasn't really a bad thing but he had never imagined himself to be in such a position before, especially from what he had done before coming here. Still, how could he not just by looking down at the small teen?

"Um, what are you doing?"

Being ripped out of his musings, Solo finally realized that the topic of his current thoughts was wide awake, violet eyes watching him curiously yet demanding a satisfactory answer as to what the blond was doing.

So, being his danger-for-pleasure seeking self, Solo answered, "I was thinking about waking you up but I saw just how precious ya looked asleep and couldn't bear to go through with it."

Duo only blinked in response. "So…" he began slowly, gathering his thoughts, "…you think I'm precious, huh?"

"Did I stutter?" Solo countered in reply, grinning cheekily down at him.

"I'm just wondering how a 'bad boy' like yourself can allow himself to actually use that word."

"I can say whatever I want to say. There's no law that says I can't."

"True, but people have an image of you and don't expect you to say such things."

"If they have a problem with it, then they can say hello to my fist."

"Is violence your solution for everything?"

Instead of answering, Solo flopped himself down onto Duo's prone body, pinning his arms down to the bed, his face only mere inches from Duo's. With his breath mingling with Duo's, Solo purred, "Not everything."

Duo swallowed unconsciously, his face pinking due to the close proximity of the larger blond and the exorbitant heat he was generating. The green eyes were darker for some reason, the eyelids half closed leaving only what was visible to bore into him. A small, lusty smile only served to complete the fiendish look Solo was giving him and served only to unnerve the unbraided one. What was this guy planning?

"You know," Solo began to drawl, "you should really leave your hair out like this."

"Why?" Duo whispered, intimidated by the sudden change in atmosphere.

"Because…" Solo paused, building up the tension, "it makes me want to do this to ya…"

Trailing off, Solo leaned down and devoured Duo's lips, his tongue invading and plundering the unbraided one's mouth. In response, Duo let his eyes shut and allowed the larger teen to do what he wanted, actually enjoying the attention that he was receiving. He couldn't describe what was going on inside his head exactly but he knew this: it was…

…It was over much too soon for his liking.

When had he stopped anyway? One minute he was in heaven, the next he was looking up at a smug Solo who still had that fiendish look on his face. Releasing one of Duo's pinned arms, Solo poked his nose affectionately and stated, "You know you look _adorable_ when you're blushing?"

Indeed he had a small blush and it was rapidly reddening, much to the blond's delight. "Wow! You can make it go darker! That's a nice trick you got there."

He could literally feel the heat rising from his face now. He did not know how red he was at the moment and it seemed Solo had been impressed long enough that he began to talk again.

"Now that you're awake," Solo drawled, "how about you get ready and meet me for breakfast? That sound okay to you?"

Not trusting his voice, Duo nodded.

Giving him a quick peck to the nose, Solo said, "See ya down there Tiger."

The moment the blond had vanished from sight, Duo shot his hand down under the covers to a certain part of his anatomy and groaned. He was going to have to fix that problem first before he met Solo down stairs.

He couldn't help but wonder what else he could do to prompt more attention like this.

--

Duo, no matter how many times it had happened, would never be able to get used to being driven to school in a limo of all things. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy being taken to and from place to place while in the lap of luxury, it was the stares that he received from the other students whenever he got out of the vehicle that made him uncomfortable. Still, the presence of Solo nearby kinda took the edge off a bit but that didn't mean he liked all the attention he was receiving lately.

However, if the wake up call he had this morning was a surprise, what greeted him at the front entrance to the school was just…weird to say the least.

There standing before them was none other than Relena Peacecraft herself in all her pink glory, but there was something different about her today. The expression on her face was one that he had never seen there before. She looked as if she was…what did she look like anyway?

Her eyes lit up when they caught sight of him and she began to make her way towards him. At first he was thinking she was heading towards Quatre, or even Solo, so when she stopped in front of him of all people and looked him in the eye, he was weirded out to a point he had never been before.

What the hell was going on?

Taking the initiative, the Peacecraft girl spoke first. "I would like to convey my most sincere apologies to the incident that happened to you last week," she said, a forlorn look in her eyes. "What Heero did to you was despicable and inexcusable and he deserved everything that's happened to him thus far. I couldn't believe he would do such a thing but he admitted to it to me recently. I would like to have the opportunity to repent for it."

Duo raised an eyebrow, confused. "But you didn't do anything!" he protested.

"That is why I wish to repent," Relena explained. "I have spent many years of my life idolizing Heero, wishing that he would return my affections for him and maybe even marry me. I thought he was the most perfect person on the planet and that he could do no wrong. I was wrong though. He was been bullying you and possibly others without anybody knowing it. I had heard stories, though, of him doing such things but I willfully ignored them."

"Okay?" Duo was really surprised at the confession and he was sure that everyone else around was also wondering what was going on.

"Please, if you need anything, anything at all, come to me," Relena said. "It's the least I can do to try to repent."

"Yeah, sure…"

Watching the teen leave them, Duo looked up in confusion at Solo and asked, "Do you know what just happened?"

Looking down at the braided one, Solo gave him a small smile before saying just one thing. "The times, they are a changin'."

Placing a firm hand on Duo's shoulder, Solo directed him towards the school, already wishing that the day was over already.

--

It wasn't that today was a bad day, far from it in fact. Sure, there was that incident at the front but that was just weird and nothing had come out of it.

No, what really bugged the blond today was that whenever he caught sight of Chang Wufei, the guy was leveling nasty glares at Duo but did nothing else other than that.

Solo enjoyed solving mysteries, it was a hobby of sorts. He had patience when dealing with the enigma of Duo Maxwell mainly because he had made some way on it. However, he was losing patience on figuring out what was the reason that Wufei hated Duo. No one seemed to know or remember how and when it happened, which only served to irritate the blond.

So, it was after school and back at the mansion where Solo cornered Quatre and more or less asked to know what the smaller blond knew. His exact words were:

"You've known Duo for a long time, right? Tell me why Wufei hates Duo's guts and don't try to bullshit me about not knowing."

Okay, okay, so it was more like a demand. Still, he couldn't waste his time pussy-footing around the subject and he had taken great pains to make sure that he had gotten Quatre _alone_ and away from any prying eyes and eavesdropping ears.

"What makes you think I know?" Quatre demanded defensively.

Paying no heed, Solo charged on full ahead. "Of all the people at school, you're the one who pays attention to anything concerning Duo and don't try and tell me that you don't know. You at least have an idea so spill it. Spill it now."

The two blonds traded look for look, neither giving up any ground to the other. Solo bored his eyes into his cousin's aquamarine, determined to squeeze an answer out of him, no matter how trivial it might be. This was something he was not going to give up on.

Without appearing to look like he was giving in, Quatre stated, "You want to know what I think about how Wufei's hatred towards Duo began." His eyes did not leave Solo's, still fixed on them. "Well, sit down. I might have an idea but only Wufei would know for sure."

Not taking his eyes off Quatre, Solo nodded. At least he would be able to learn something new.

Finally taking his eyes off his cousin, Quatre stared straight ahead as he began to speak. "When Wufei first moved here, you could say not a lot of people liked him. Over the next few weeks, he began to build a reputation as a smart guy who knew how to have a fun time and began to start attracting everybody. Even Duo wanted to get to know him but Wufei didn't seem interested and he bummed Duo off. Not strangely enough, Wufei wanted to become friends with me and asked me to lunch a few times. Being polite, I told him I would think about it, ultimately never taking him up on any of his offers.

"He continued to ignore Duo as he became more and more popular. To tell the truth, he wasn't even nasty to Duo as he is now. He just pretended that Duo didn't exist and Duo being Duo kept trying to be nice.

"Personally, I think it all began one day when Wufei had gotten everybody in our Algebra I class together and explained that he had figured out how the teacher did the grading curve. He told everyone that no matter what, she would always boost the highest score to a hundred and add the amount of points added to that score to all the others. Wufei proposed that on the next test everyone get a low score. He wanted to be the one to get the hundred and he guaranteed that he would get the highest of the low scores and bring everybody up when the teacher added the curve.

"Much to my own shame, I agreed to going along with it.

"The test would be taken the very next day, however there was one person that did not know about the scheme and no one told him about it either. Duo had been sick for a few days and would be coming back just in time for the test. He was so nervous when he took it but I thought I'd leave him in the dark, hoping to surprise him when we would learn of the curve."

"So how does all that explain why Wufei hates Duo?" Solo interrupted.

"I was just getting to that," Quatre explained. "The day of the test, all of us finished sooner than the teacher expected since we purposely answered a good amount of the questions wrong. Duo was the last one to finish, still working on it as the bell rang, and he was so nervous when he turned it in that he told me he knew he had bombed the test.

"When all the tests had been graded, the teacher announced to us that she was very disappointed in how low the scores were. Despite this, we were all still sure that the curve would rescue us. But then she added something. She said that despite all the low scores, there was one that was high. It was Duo's and he had scored a hundred, shooting the curve. We were all stunned but no one more so than Wufei.

"Wufei's family is very family oriented and tradition bound and one of the things they advocate is being the best at everything, even at school. I heard that when his parents learned of the low grade that they grounded him and buried him in so much learning crap that it took weeks for him to get through it all but that was just a rumor.

"You can bet Father wasn't pleased when he heard about my score.

"It was after that I began to hear about things being done to Duo and once I caught Wufei verbally bullying him. He didn't know I was there but he had finished up before I could intervene. Because of the fiasco, no one participated in any other schemes that Wufei concocted but he soon found another way to make himself popular and that was none other than his extravagant parties.

"As he was becoming popular again, he turned a good amount of the school against Duo but I guess everyone was just too lazy or something to actually physically hurt Duo. Instead, they ignored him and I was the only one who didn't follow the crowd. It was my fault for not telling Duo anything about the scheme and I got what I deserved for trying to manipulate the teacher into giving me a grade I didn't deserve."

"So let me get this straight," Solo said. "Wufei is pissed off at Duo because the guy made him get a bad grade on a test that he had planned to get a bad grade on anyway because he would use the grading curve to boost it up? Even if it was a good plan, _he_ fucked up by not telling Duo. It was _his_ fault that he got that."

"That's not how he sees it," Quatre said. "He thinks that Duo did it on purpose, or that's what I've heard."

"That asshole is so full of himself," Solo muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Tell me something I don't know," Quatre replied bitterly.

Snorting, Solo got up, saying, "Gonna go hunt down Short Stuff. See you later."

"You're not just going to lead him on, are you?" Quatre inquired, his eyes now boring straight into Solo's back.

"I'd never do that," Solo answered without turning around.

"Then what is it?" Quatre demanded, standing up.

Glancing back at his cousin, Solo gave him a smirk before replying.

"He's mine. He just doesn't know it yet."


	20. Practice Makes Perfect

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, shounen ai

Practice Makes Perfect

It was just one thing after another when it came to recent events happening to Wufei.

First his offers of friendship to the new kid had been spurned one after another, the guy preferring to stay in the company of that braided loser instead of his more prestigious presence. Then he had to cancel a party because his best friend had been assaulted by an anonymous person that Heero refused to name. Only just yesterday he had somehow managed to alienate much of the student population and then his _uncle_ lectured him about treating others _as equals_, even if they didn't deserve it! But that was not all. Relena actually pledged her support to Maxwell that morning in front of most of the school.

How could this be happening? Why was it happening now of all times? Why was everyone turning against him now and beginning to treat that lowlife loser better?

Duo Maxwell had ruined him, ruined everything when he had shot the grading curve and forced him and the rest of the class to receive a low mark on that test. No one bothered to listen to him anymore whenever it came to plans such as that. He couldn't breathe a word of it for weeks without people turning his backs on him and what was worse, his parents had thought he had been messing around. The shame that was placed on him so dishonorably by that piece of scum would not be allowed to go unanswered. He would make Maxwell pay for humiliating him like that.

For the next few years, he had been successful. Using high school politics and social life, he had managed to poison most of the school against Maxwell, alienating him and taking away the socialization that the rat desperately needed. His long, drawn out revenge was just as satisfying as if he had passed all his tests with flying colors. He could even directly make Maxwell suffer by stealing away all potential acquaintances and taunt him when no one was looking.

But that had all changed ever since that new kid, Solo Winner, had arrived. From all the talk, this newest Winner was admired and respected from his first day at the school, ever since he humiliated that slut Dorothy Catalonia to her face. Winner was suddenly the guy everybody wanted to be friends with, Wufei being no exception, yet he chose to stick with the company of Maxwell. A lot of people had been appalled by such a decision and watched Winner, waiting for him to get sick and tired of Maxwell and seek out other people.

As it could be seen, no such luck.

That's when his one and only friend, Heero, took action and tried to remove Maxwell from the equation altogether. He couldn't have been more pleased and had announced a party in honor of Heero's accomplishment. However, Winner, both of them, took offense and humiliated Heero in the cafeteria by saying that Maxwell of all people had managed to hurt him.

He had been about to write off Solo Winner when he learned the next day that Dorothy had invited him to his party and Winner was planning on attending it unless some sort of family matter came up and prevented it. He couldn't have been more overjoyed at the news but mere hours later, things took a turn for the worse.

He learned that his best friend was being hospitalized in the trauma ward and he canceled the party so he could be by his side. Where others had failed to get the Japanese to talk, Wufei had succeeded and couldn't believe that it had been both the Winners and Trowa Barton who were responsible for his current condition. From that point on, Wufei was forced to give up on any hopes that he could achieve a friendship with the Winners.

What really steamed him about the assault was the fact that it had been perpetrated in retribution of Maxwell's well-deserved beating. Oh yes, it was still shameful that his friend had been hurt so badly but the reasoning for it…

There could be no forgiving, none at all.

They had to strike back for this; there was no other course of action. This is what led him to be in the hospital at this time of day, enjoying the fuming company of Heero and plotting revenge on the Winners, Barton, and Maxwell.

However, Heero's mind was not completely focused on the task at hand. No, the Japanese was more concerned with the fact that Relena Peacecraft, his personal stalker, had decided to give up on him and extend an olive branch to Maxwell. He could plainly hear the grumblings of the Japanese as he muttered about how he was going to get Relena back and he couldn't understand it. Why was Heero trying to get Relena Peacecraft to stalk him again when only a few days ago he had complained about not wanting it?

If he wasn't too self-absorbed in his own vengeance, he would have been questioning his friend's current mental state.

Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose, saying, "Focus Heero. You can think about Relena later."

"And why should I?" Heero growled irrationally.

Wufei just leveled him a look that was more eloquent than words could ever hope to be before replying, "We need to figure out a way to get back at Maxwell and the Winners, Heero, so I would appreciate it if you would concentrate on the matter at hand."

"Those losers aren't going anywhere," Heero snapped. "We can deal with them later. What we need to do is get Relena back to chasing me again."

"Listen to yourself man!" Wufei cried, appalled at how Heero's mental stability had deteriorated. "How can you want to be stalked again?" Suddenly, an idea came to Wufei, one that forced him to hide a small smile. "Anyway, she's taken an interest with Maxwell. She's acting as if she had never stalked you."

"You lie!" Heero exclaimed. Wufei's look did not change and Heero had no choice but to believe his friend. "How could that dirty, little rat _steal_ her away from me! The next time I get my hands on his scrawny neck, I'll make that beating I gave him look like a love tap!"

Wufei couldn't help but grin back. Sometimes it was so easy to manipulate Heero…

"Now, let's think of a way to get back at our mutual pest," he proposed.

--

Ever since he had been a young boy, Solo had enjoyed going hunting, even if he did just tag along and wasn't allowed to use a rifle. He still received the thrill from just observing as if he was doing the hunting himself.

In this case, the prey that he was searching for was one he was determined not to kill or even maim. No, he wanted him whole and healthy. That way, he would be more pliable for other things…

His green eyes were sharp as they searched for his prey, not leaving one spot unsearched. He had the patience required for this activity and everyone knows that good things come with patience...

Wait! What was that? Backing up a bit, his mouth curved into a predatory grin. Target located. Proceed with mission.

Exercising extreme stealth and caution, he slowly crept into the guestroom where his prey lied, sprawled on his bed, utterly defenseless. He was so out of it, Solo could tell, especially when he closed the door behind him. That just made this all the more sweeter when he captured him. His fingers were twitching spasmodically in anticipation as he drew up right next to the bed.

Examining his prey from where he stood, he noticed indulgently that an iPod laid next to the teen, the small device on and playing music through the small earphones that were currently in use.

Absolutely perfect.

He slipped onto the bed and over his prey, trying his best not to alert the teen to his presence as he slowly laid his larger body on top of him, pinning the smaller teen to the bed with his natural body weight. Propping up his upper body with his elbows, he oh so deviously pressed the pause button on the iPod.

Slowly, violet eyes opened in confusion before widening to the size of dinner saucers.

"Hi," Solo greeted casually.

"What the hell?!" Duo bellowed and began to squirm beneath the heavier teen.

"Uh, uh, uh, Short Stuff," Solo teased. "You ain't going nowhere."

"What's going on through your mind, Tree Trunk?" Duo demanded, wary of the blond's intentions.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Solo taunted, smirking down at Duo.

"Get off of me before I—" Duo began but was interrupted.

"You're in no position to be making threats, my little Duo," Solo drawled. "I have you exactly where I want ya: beneath me and at my mercy. So, what are you gonna do to placate me?"

"What is it that you want?" Duo asked warily.

"I thought you'd never ask," Solo replied lazily, his smirk widening into a wicked grin.

Duo definitely didn't like that.

His larger body comfortably lying on the smaller teen, Solo drooped his head closer to Duo's, his green eyes darkening. He planted a gentled peck on Duo's nose, rising slight so that he could allow his green eyes to bore into Duo's violet ones before closing in again, his lips capturing the other's lips.

Immediately, all tenseness and resistance in his body vanished as his world focused on that single fact. Solo's lips gently massaged his as his tongue languidly invaded his mouth and playfully wrestled with his own. All he could do was bonelessly lie there as his mouth was leisurely plundered.

And he couldn't care less.

Breaking off, Solo observed his nonresistant braided prize and smiled indulgently at him as he slowly regained his wits. He stifled a chuckled as Duo blinked owlishly, his consciousness returning to reality. Solo couldn't help himself as he cupped Duo's cheek and allowed his thumb to stroke that virgin skin.

"How?" Duo asked aimlessly.

"How what?" Solo replied back.

"No one can be that good," Duo answered, "So how can you be…?"

This time Solo allowed a chuckle to escape. "Practice makes perfect," he said.

"Practice?" Duo's brow began to crease slightly. "Who?" he asked somewhat lamely, a sinking feeling growing in his gut.

Not seeing any danger in answering, Solo said, "You know the Winner-funded Sandstorm Ballet?"

"Which one was it?"

"All of them."

"All the girls?"

Solo chuckled. "You think to small, Short Stuff. When I said all of them, I didn't just mean the girls but the guys as well."

That sinking feeling had now become a lump that was growing with every passing second. "If you could have all them," he began, "then what the hell are you doing here with me?"

Solo finally caught on to where Duo's train of thought was going. "Honestly, what do you take me for?" he teased. "The only thing I liked about them was their flexibility. That's it. End of story. What could you expect to happen in an orgy anyway?"

"That's a bit too much information."

"Anyway, I like you," Solo continued. "You're not like all the other people I've met who've only seen me as a way to get ahead in life. You're blunt, I mean truthful, you don't let anybody walk all over you, you don't give a crap what other people think about you, but most of all…" he trailed off.

"Most of all, what?" Duo pressed, raising an eyebrow.

Lowering his head so that his mouth was close to Duo's ear, he breathed, "You're just my type."

Not the answer that Duo was expecting but he'd go with it.

"So I take it you're attracted?"

"Better believe it," Solo growled into his ear.

"Is it just about sex with you or something?"

"Not completely," Solo admitted, "but it still is important."

"So then what is it?"

"You think too much. Here, let me take your mind off of it."

"Take my mind off it? What do you mean by…"

Unable to finish his question, he could only tighten his grip on whatever he could grab a hold of. In this case, this just happened to be Solo, who smirked in reply. It was so great having such intimate knowledge of the human body.

Who would have ever though an earlobe could be such a stimulating area?

Well, not like it really mattered since he was driving Duo crazy just by _nibbling_ on it. Alternating between that and lightly sucking on it, he was enjoying the reaction he was receiving from his prisoner. He couldn't say that this wasn't turning him (it was doing a damn fine job of doing that), that would have been a flat out lie and Solomon Ezekiel Winner did not lie.

…unless it was to save his ass from impending doom but that time didn't really count…

But he knew that there was a line that had to be crossed in order to go any further and unfortunately for him, he knew where exactly that line was. Ceasing his arousing activity, he raised his head up to look down at his captive, smiling indulgently at the panting teen. It seemed he really gave the braided one a workout of a sort, Duo was panting lightly, his eyes were squeezed shut, and his cheeks lit up with a pinkish tinge.

Honestly, did this guy's adorability have no limits?

Coming to, Duo immediately began to whine. "Huh? Why'd you stop!"

"Don't want to force you into anything you'll regret," he answered.

"Whose regretting anything?!" Duo demanded. "Get back here damn it!"

"I don't think I should," Solo teased. "I just might lose control of myself and do something that we'll both regret."

"And what the hell would that be?!" Duo exclaimed irritably, not caring about anything else but to feel that pleasurable sensation again.

"Sex," Solo answered bluntly.

If anything could put a damper on Duo's mood, that was it. It wasn't the fact that Solo had been blunt about it. To tell the truth, it was more the uncertainty that that word brought to the braided one. He had heard many stories about it, and how could he not since he was in the middle of a high school sausage festival where hormones were at dangerous proportions.

There was no doubt he knew that Solo knew what he was dong. The guy wouldn't do anything to hurt him, right? Then again, the blond had done it with an entire Ballet team…

"So what do we do now?" Duo asked, doing anything to get those thoughts out of his head.

"Well, I'm feeling pretty comfortable right here," Solo said aloud. "You think I could spend the night right here?"

Shaking his head, Duo replied, "Is there any way I could stop you?"

"You could say 'no,'" Solo answered.

Duo blinked in surprise, astonished that the blond was giving him a choice for once. "Since you're here," he began slowly, "you might as well stay."

Solo grinned but said nothing as he snuggled down into the body beneath him.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to Duo. "Hey Solo?"

"Yeah?"

"When's dinner?"

"Son of a bitch…"


	21. Put Your Foot Where Your Mouth Is

Author's Note: Sorry for making you guys wait but I've finished at long last! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language

Put Your Foot Where Your Mouth Is

The papers were set. Everything was checked, then doubled checked again to be sure there wasn't anything to ruin it. Negotiations would be able to begin soon.

This deal that would be going down was of epic proportions never before seen in the corporate sphere. It would single-handedly change the business and economic world as people knew it.

It was something that Durban Jefferson Dermail was determined to see through to the end and it was his intention that everything went down according to his superior's plan.

Dermail, who had been around the block more than once, was an executive of the mighty Romafellor Corporation, one of the largest and most successful businesses in the world. The Corporation itself owned so much that it was more of a question of what it _didn't_ own or had _no_ hand in working with. Banking, stocks, merchandizing, construction, feminine products, clothing brands, book publishing, disease research, humanitarian projects, electronics, patents, advertising, mass media, you name it, Romafellor's name was somewhere associated with it.

Only Winner Enterprises Incorporated could compete with Romafellor on anything and compete it did. The founder and C.E.O. of Romafellor Corporations, unsurprisingly known simply as Mr. Romafellor, was a man of opportunity and a brilliant businessman and even he grudgingly conceded that the Winner family, particularly one Raberba Bahjir Winner, to be quite the competent business rival. It seemed no matter what he threw at the man, the patriarch of the Winner family always found some way to not only endure but to prosper from it.

Perhaps that was why Mr. Romafellor had come up with the idea to create an international trust with WEI, creating the first international monopoly in recent history, if not the first _in_ history. Dermail, Mr. Romafellor's right hand man, had been given the task of setting up the offer that was to be given to the Winners who were suspicious of anything that came from RC, something they rightly so had reason to be suspicious of.

However, in this case, for once in its life, RC's intentions held no other ulterior motives that weren't blatant or any underhanded tactics in its arsenal this time around.

Romafellor was going to be playing…_nice_…this time around.

So you could understand how frustrating and difficult this was for a man like Dermail in his position trying to come up with something in the right wording that would enable this deal to proceed forward.

Now, while going in person to meet with Raberba Winner would be the best thing to do, Dermail had many other things to attend to on top of it all and just taking this on completely would probably kill him, literally. He wasn't as young as he used to be. Thus, he was going to have put the matter into the hands of one of his more than competent underhands.

But which one would he chose? This was delicate and no screw ups could be allowed. He was going to have to throw his best out, whether or not he wanted to. Mr. Romafellor wanted this to go without a hitch.

With that in mind, Dermail began to make the arrangements necessary for his chosen representative.

--

Solo wasn't really hungry that morning so he was mainly just pushing his oatmeal around in his bowl, taking occasional bites every now and then.

Oatmeal wasn't the thing that he wanted to be eating right now. What he did want just happened to be upstairs, still asleep and just _begging_ to be taken advantage of. Waking up right next to the smaller teen was something he could definitely get used to, without a doubt.

"What's got you so glum?"

Looking up, Solo let a small smile out. Well speak of the little devil himself; the very subject of his thoughts had just come in, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes like a small child. Solo felt the urge to just grab the braided one and squeeze the life out of him but he managed to conquer the strong impulse and remained sitting.

"So what's on your mind, Tree Trunk?" Duo asked conversationally.

Deciding to play it risky, Solo grinned and answered, "You."

"And what exactly am I doing on your mind?" Duo asked, glancing up at Solo before hastily adding, "Don't answer that."

"C'mon!" Solo complained.

"First of all, I don't think my fragile virgin mind could handle it," Duo replied as he took a taste of his oatmeal. "Second, I'm actually hungry this fine morning and would like to eat something without getting disturbing images in my head, thank you very much."

"What's life without a little risk, huh?" Solo pressed.

"There are some things I'm willing risk when I know nothing about them," Duo answered as he took another bite. "However, I do know you and what you'll say so really, there's no risk involved since I have a good idea at what you're going to say."

"Oh? And how do you know what I was going to say?" Solo shot back. "For all you know, it could be something else."

Duo just gave him a look.

"However, you have justification this time," Solo amended. "It's something disgusting and perverted enough to make you not eat for the rest of the day."

"And that's what my gut told me," Duo stated. "Well, at least not that last stuff you said but I was right that it was something that I didn't want to hear."

"And what was it you didn't want to hear about?"

Perking up, Duo chirped, "Good morning Q! To answer your question, Solo was just being himself again."

"You know you like it," Solo teased.

"Give Duo some space," Quatre chided. "He's not used to being hit on this early in the morning."

"Hey!" Duo exclaimed defensively.

"Besides," Quatre continued, oblivious to Duo's interruption, "if you want to do that, at least actually have an intimate relationship with him. Otherwise, it's just not right."

"W-what?!" Duo sputtered.

"W-e-e-ell," Solo drawled as he mock-pondered, "we could just be friends with benefits, ever thought of that?"

"But that takes the charm out of it," Quatre lightheartedly protested.

"Now that I think about it, you do have a point," Solo acknowledged. "Think I should do something special?"

"Of course!" Quatre exclaimed empathetically.

"Hey guys, I'm right here…" Duo spoke up.

Solo looked down at him in surprise. "Are you getting shorter or something? Honestly, I forgot you were there."

It took all of Duo's willpower not to grab the nearest fork and stab it into Solo's jugular at that comment.

Gritting his teeth, Duo said, "Hey Solo, do you like where Solo Jr. is right now?"

Brow creasing, Solo crossed his legs and answered, "Yes, I like him where he is right now. Why do you ask?"

"Why?" Duo repeated conversationally. "Well, I ask only because the next time you say something like that, Junior is going to be leaving the roost, bloodily I might add, on a one way trip straight up your ass. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Solo said, put his hands down over his crotch protectively. "Why do you keep saying you're going to separate me from my best friend anyway?" Solo complained.

"Maybe because that's the only thing you listen to," Duo grounded back before turning his sights on Quatre. "Don't think you'll be left out either."

"Huh? What did I do?" Quatre demanded.

"Don't think I don't see through you," Duo stated. "You're trying to play matchmaker again, aren't you?"

Quatre had the decency to bow his reddening face in shame.

Solo perked up at that. "Matchmaking? You match make?"

Quatre's face reddened even further.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Solo demanded. "I could've used those talents earlier."

"Hey Solo?" Duo growled.

"Yeah?"

"You like where your balls are?"

"Shutting up now."

--

Dorothy managed to keep a look of impatience hidden as she endured yet another session of devoted boyfriend time, supplied by her very own Walker.

She just couldn't understand what it was that led her to taking him as her latest boy toy in the first place. The guy was boring and beginning to grate on her nerves. Walker just was too dull for her tastes at this point in time. He hardly swore and when he did, it was when he was defending his claim on her from other people. He had some misguided delusion about her being perfect when she wholeheartedly admitted truthfully that she was anything but.

At one time, it may have been enduring. Now, it was just plain annoying.

She wanted, no, _needed_ something or someone different. Yeah, someone who could lighten up this droll that her life currently was in. She needed some change, man!

And she already knew who the best person was that could do that for her.

Solo Winner…

If there was anybody who could spice things up, she was more than sure it was him. He was stubborn and didn't give up too easily, that much she knew since her usual charms had thus far had little to no effect on him.

If anything, that was a turn on right there.

However, there was one little, itsey bitsy, tiny obstacle that was standing between her and getting the man of her dreams and that obstacle wasn't budging an inch no matter what was thrown at it.

Curse that wretched Duo Maxwell!

What did that gorgeous hunk see in that little pipsqueak anyway? What could the twerp have that managed to divert that blond god's attention from more important things, such as herself? There was nothing special about him! Nothing at all! But that still didn't change the fact that Solo chose the twerp's company over everybody else's. Even hers. He practically insulted everybody that sought to put the twerp back into his place and defended him even! What could possibly be going through Solo's mind! It was accepted that his cousin Quatre was eccentric when it came to friends and that Trowa put up with the twerp because of that eccentricity but Solo was a prime piece of man meat who deserved better!

As long as the twerp was at his side, Solo would never look at her in the way she wanted him to. Whenever the twerp was missing, the blond was more sociable with everybody else, something she definitely noticed and took note of the day Duo Maxwell had been absent from school. All she needed to do was make sure that the twerp was irreparably separated from Solo and then he would all be hers.

"Dorothy? Did you hear a word I said?"

Oh damn, she had to deal with reality again. She couldn't let Walker know of what she had been thinking about, else he would break up with her _before_ she made her claim on Solo. God forbid she went a day without a boyfriend.

"I'm sorry but my mind was elsewhere," she apologized. "Could you please repeat it?" Giving him her most seductive smile, she could tell that he was firmly within her power once again.

"I was talking about what we were going to do after the Homecoming Dance," Walker reiterated, obviously excited.

"How about we go to my house for the night?" she suggested. "My parental figures have been absent of late, busy with something, so we shouldn't be…interrupted while in a compromising position."

Giving her a goofy smile, he nodded enthusiastically. "It's a date, babe!" he declared and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he began to go off on a tangent about how bad they were going to beat the other team on Friday.

Once again, Dorothy's mind was elsewhere, plotting again once more.

Homecoming, eh? If she could work things to her advantage, it wouldn't be Walker who would be coming home with her after the Dance. Instead, it would be a big, tall, strong, dreamy, blond god who would grace her bed and give her the time of her life. She was drooling inside of her head at the vivid image of being held up against that obviously strong body, caressed gently, stimulated to the point of madness, then filled with his godly weapon and pounded down into the mattress.

She certainly did know the truth of what was said about big feet after all…


	22. Reaching the Breaking Point

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language

Reaching the Breaking Point

It was certainly a relief to learn that the rest of the week would be going smoothly, at least classwork-wise. From the way all the advertisements (i.e. the large, cruddy-looking pieces of paper made by those students who had no lives outside of school) covered the walls of the hallways, it seemed the school was desperately trying to promote Homecoming.

All the past ones, Duo hadn't given a care to any of it, knowing what he'd be doing on Friday anyway: staying home. However, it was required for the senior students to help out on decorating the gym and everything since it was _their_ Homecoming after all. And it just so happened that Duo was a senior this year, joy…

Upon hearing that their first period would be going to start on the preparations, he noticed that Solo kept shooting him sly looks and the braided one suddenly had the feeling that this coming Friday wasn't going to be the peaceful evening it usually was for him. He already knew Quatre would be going, cause hey, he already had a "date." He had no doubt that his "friend" would try to drag him along. He'd probably get Solo to help him out or something since Tree Trunk seemed to be so concerned about promoting his general being and welfare.

Having arrived in the gym to do their small bit in setting things up, Duo found himself separated from his constant shadow and he could clearly see that Solo was not happy about it. It could be due to the fact that Solo was being forced to work side-by-side with Dorothy on the other side of the gym that may have been the reason for that. Or maybe it was because Duo knew how to avoid doing any of the work by just standing there and looking like he was trying to help.

It was something that always worked for him before.

--

For once, Solo was having to use up all his considerable control in not striking out at the harpy at his side, a certain Dorothy Catalonia who was quite obvious in trying to flirt with him. He had no qualms about hitting girls. Never had and never would. The only reason why he hadn't struck at her _yet_ was because he didn't feel like getting in trouble with the local authorities here (a.k.a. the teachers and faculty staff) for some reason.

It was completely unlike him but then again, he shouldn't have been so surprised by it. He could trace this change in back to Duo quite easily and he had to wonder how did the little guy have such an effect on him?

Well, his newfound patience was getting a workout as Dorothy was trying, unsuccessfully, to drape herself all over him. He wouldn't have any of that and he was shrugging her off each time. However, he had to admit that she was pretty determined and had yet to give up. Hey, she was talking, wasn't she? Perhaps he could listen to what she was saying and maybe find some way to keep her off him.

"…I know a good, secret spot where we can be alone and…" Dorothy purred and Solo found himself blocking her voice again as some pretty perverted things came out of her mouth, all of them things that sounded pretty fun and required him screwing her into the next month. That had not been a good idea.

And they have the gall to say all men are perverts, sheesh. Whoever "they" were, "they" should really listen to this bimbo. They could get an education from her by just listening for an hour.

After shrugging her away from him for perhaps the thousandth time, he turned his head towards her and demanded, "Will you stop bugging me already?!"

If anything, that seemed to embolden her. "Depends on what you're willing to offer," she replied, purring.

"What do you want?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"What say you grant me the honor of taking me to the Homecoming Dance this Friday?"

Raising his other eyebrow, he said, "Don't you already have a boyfriend? Why are you asking me anyway?"

"So is it a yes or a no?" Dorothy continued as if she hadn't heard him.

"Get off me and I might consider it," he snarked.

"So you'll go with me?" she squealed as she put a couple feet between her and him.

"No," Solo stated, smirking as he crushed her hopes once again. Hey, whoever thought he was a nice guy anyway? Besides, it was fun dashing her hopes like that. She was just _begging_ for it!

"Why are you being so resistant anyway?" Dorothy whined as she close in on him again. "Is it because of Maxwell? What does he have that I don't?"

"A brain for one," he answered testily.

"I'm smarter than him!" Dorothy defended.

"He's honest," Solo added, eyes narrowing as a thought occurred to him and a plan began to slowly enter his mind.

"He's honest but has he told you everything about himself?" Dorothy countered.

"You didn't tell me ya had a boyfriend," Solo pointed out.

"I never said I didn't," Dorothy replied. "Besides, you never asked. So what else?"

Not noticing the flicker in the green eyes, Dorothy was caught off guard by Solo's next words. "He has a braid," he said simply.

"What?" she deadpanned.

"And he's not blonde," Solo continued. "I'm much more attracted to brunets than anything."

"Really…" Dorothy murmured to herself.

Solo was mentally congratulating himself. She was taking this seriously, wasn't she? Hmm, what else could he say? "Oh yeah, and one more thing, he has a tan."

Now that last one was a flat out lie. One only had to take a good look at Duo Maxwell to know that he was anything but. He was definitely more pale than tan but Dorothy didn't seem the type to try and confirm something like that.

He could barely make out the words coming out of her mouth since she had lowered her volume that much. "Is that so…?" Her eyes soon became determined and it took everything he had to not bust out in laughter.

Man, she was just too easy! Hell, she was lost in her mind, thinking thoughts that Solo had no idea of what they consisted of, and didn't want to know either, but as long as she wasn't bothering him, he could've cared less. All he wanted to do was finish up here and get out, Duo preferably by his side.

Huh, now that was an odd thought. Eh, why not go with it?

--

It was only lunch and already Wufei's temper was near the breaking point. There was a noticeable lack of people sitting hear his table and he knew exactly what it was that caused it.

It was over there, a smile on its face where no smile should be. This was all that little rat's fault. He had no idea how he had done it but somehow he had managed to corrupt the Winners and Barton, especially that Solo. He had managed to somehow do so before he could rescue them and keep them away from Maxwell's clutches. Now that he had them, Wufei could already see that he was turning everyone else against him.

His fury and outrage demanded immediate reprisal but his cool control barely managed to rein both in. At least, for now it was. He wanted so badly to get up and wipe that disgusting smile off that rat's face, pull his hair out, tear him to shreds, and reveal him to be the conniving little bastard that he really was.

However, pride and dignity, combined with perhaps a little bit of arrogance, deterred him from taking such actions. But he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it all in for much longer.

Wait…why shouldn't he repay Maxwell back for Heero's beating? The Winners and Barton had waited for Heero to fall into their trap before striking. Why couldn't he do the same? Well, he could but it wouldn't be honorable to do so. Still, with a little tweaking, perhaps that wouldn't be a problem.

First he'd knock some sense into the Winners and Barton, then he'd go after Maxwell himself and put an end to this once and for all.

--

Duo had to feel sorry for Solo. They were in the middle of Home Economics when he had been called back to the office once again.

Ms. Bloom had them doing a cooking project, one that would be finished by Friday at the maximum and today they were all finishing up putting their ingredients together so they could use them first thing tomorrow. Without his help, Solo was going to have to do it by himself since it was only them two in a group. Jut seeing the blond's look of horror once he figured out that he was going to be alone for awhile was absolutely priceless and had been worth staying to see.

Still, he couldn't help but wonder why he was called back up to the office again. Last time had not been one of good news. In fact, that was probably the reason why he was called. Just more bad news to darken his day, eh?

Not surprising, it was Howard who was waiting for him. There was something different about him today, even though his ever present shades and God-awful Hawaiian shirt were still with the old man, Duo was having a bit of trouble trying to figure the old man out.

Nonetheless, when the old man embraced him in a bear hug, Duo didn't hold back and returned it.

"So how you been doing Duo?" Howard inquired the moment he released him.

"I'm doing good," the braided one answered readily.

"You sure look good," Howard commented as he lowered his shades and eyed him closely. "You definitely look better than you had the last time I saw you."

"I guess it makes a difference when last time I got the shit beat out of me," Duo replied wryly. "So, what brings you here today?"

"Since you've probably already have guessed, I'll just confirm it," Howard said. "Your father's at it again but he didn't succeed this time around."

"Oh?" Now this perked Duo's interest. "What was he trying to do now?"

"He was trying to make it so that he would only have to pay for half of your college expenses instead of all of them," Howard explained. "However, I managed to bring up that little tip you gave me about him trying to move up the date of graduation. Did a little research to back it up and made it look like he was trying to get out of his court-appointed duty. Suffice to say, he failed and we managed to keep the current status quo."

"The bastard is not going to give up, is he," Duo stated.

"As long as he has to keep shelling out money, he won't," Howard answered dryly. "I find it a bit ironic that he's willing to spend more money taking this back to court than to just support you and do what was ordered of him."

"Some people just make no sense," Duo said.

"You don't have to tell me twice," Howard replied.

"So is there anything else?" Duo asked, a sinking feeling in his gut warning him that he didn't want to know if there was.

"Besides that, nothing at all," Howard answered, much to the braided one's surprise and relief.

"So when's the next court date?" Duo inquired.

"Believe it or not, not for a few weeks," Howard told him. "There was suppose to be one tomorrow but your father suddenly upped and canceled it. There's only been one time he's ever done that."

"Yeah, his business or whatever it is is up to something big," Duo finished sarcastically.

"From a reliable source, whatever it is, it's big," Howard said. "So big that the whole corporation is being utilized for it."

"Then his boss is the one responsible, huh? I'll have to ask Mr. Winner if he has an idea of what's going on."

"You do that. Anyway, I gotta jet. I have another court appearance in a couple hours and need to get ready."

Duo smiled. "It always amazes me how you're able to get back into that shirt of yours so quickly."

"It's not as if I like wearing all that stiff stuff," Howard muttered. "Well, you take care now Duo. I'll call you in case something comes up."

--

"So what was so important that you left me to fend for myself in that cooking class?" Solo demanded the moment the final bell had rung and everybody was rushing to get out of the building as fast as they could.

"Howard," Duo answered simply as he pushed opened the front doors to the main entrance, entering into the sunny outdoors and clear blue sky.

"The old geezer?" Solo questioned. "What did he want?"

"Take a wild guess," Duo snarked back, refusing to say anything more on the subject.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Duo's father had to have been involved somehow. It was really grating on Solo's nerves that he didn't know who Duo's father was. He wanted to bash the guy's face in for some reason.

Not paying attention to his surroundings, the blond bumped up against the braided one's back. "Huh? Why'd you stop?" Solo asked, puzzled.

"It looks like we have company," Duo answered dryly, looking straight ahead.

Looking towards where Duo was looking, Solo groaned.

Standing in the middle of their path to freedom was Chang Wufei and he did not look one bit happy. The moment his onyx eyes spotted Duo, they lit up with a malevolent light and a smirk formed on his lips.

The Chinese teen closed the distance between them, standing mere feet from the two long-haired boys, his arms crossed over his chest. The stance he took was aggressive, as if issuing a challenge to one of them.

"What do you want?" Solo growled protectively from behind Duo, his hands clenching into fists.

"Nothing that concerns you," Wufei stated matter-of-factly. "My business here is between me and Maxwell."

"And what exactly is that?" Duo asked, crossing his arms over his own chest.

"It's time we settle this," Wufei stated. "I challenge you to a one-on-one fight right here and now, Maxwell."


	23. Showdown of the Century

Author's Note: Here it is at last, the fight between Duo and Wufei on Pay-Per-View. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, violence

Showdown of the Century

"You can't be fucking serious," Solo barked, his face reddening in anger.

"I am always serious," Wufei retorted, "and last I checked, it was Maxwell that I had challenged, not you. So, Maxwell, what is it going to be? Are you willing to face me like a man or run away like the little rat that you are?"

Duo glowered. As if he had the right to call him names! Even now he didn't understand what made this guy hate him so much but he was sick and tired of it all. He agreed with Wufei on this one: it was time they settled this, once and for all. However, he noticed the small gathering that was watching them and he was still aware that they were on school property. To lay it down here would not be the best thing for anyone.

"Okay, I accept," Duo growled. "But we're not doing this here."

"Having second thoughts?" Wufei sneered.

"No, there's a good chance we'll be interrupted here by the school staff," Duo replied coolly. "I want to settle this just as much as you do but I don't want any interference with it. Do you?"

That seemed to catch Wufei off guard. However, from the look of it, he was considering Duo's words. "So where do you suppose we do this?" he demanded.

Smirking, Duo answered, "I know of a place. Just follow me…"

--

An abandoned, vacant lot was Duo's choice of battleground.

That was where this showdown would take place and settle the score that seemed to exist between Duo Maxwell and Chang Wufei. At least, that's what Duo Maxwell hoped. Still it was a bit encouraging to notice how anxious Wufei had become the closer they had come to the lot.

Maybe it was because this lot was deep in the poorer parts of the city.

Here there weren't rich houses or estates. Instead, there were shanty houses that housed large families that where sometimes bigger than the house. The streets were not smooth but filled with asphalt that patched it up and the occasional pothole that had been missed.

In fact, quite a few of the students that had followed them were uncomfortable with their surroundings. From what few glimpses he had, Duo could have sworn that he saw Quatre with the same queasiness that seemed to infect a good amount of the spectators. Trowa, who was following the Winner like a shadow, seemed unaffected whatsoever by it.

But all that didn't matter to the braided one as he stared down his Chinese opponent, his every muscle tense as he mentally prepped himself for the fight. He was going to need everything he had for this. If he knew anything about the Chang Family, it would be no surprise if Wufei knew some martial arts, if not a whole lot more than he did.

"You sure about this?" Solo asked from behind him, concerned. "I can take him if you want."

"No, Solo," Duo stated without turning around. "This is something I need to do for myself. It's between me and him alone. Got that? I don't care if I'm being beaten to a pulp, don't interfere."

"But—" Solo began to protest.

"No Solo!" Duo nearly snarled. "Promise me you won't interfere. Promise me!"

"Don't make me do that," Solo protested.

"Solo…" Duo warned menacingly.

"Fine," Solo sighed, shoulder slumping. "I promise not to interrupt, alright?"

"Thank you," Duo said, slowly walking towards the Chinese youth.

"Finished with your little drama?" Wufei taunted as he removed his shirt to reveal a blue tank top.

"Are you finished with being a snob?" Duo shot back, falling back into a stance.

Wufei growled but then smirked. "You have no idea of the world of pain you are about to experience," he declared as he fell into his own stance.

It seemed Duo's suspicions were not unfounded. Unlike when he faced Solo, Wufei had less openings revealed and was on the line between going into an offensive assault or into a defensive position.

It wasn't in Duo's style to go rushing ahead. He had learned to be wary or everything and everyone over the course of his life and that wariness that influenced his fighting style. He would let Wufei go first to see how good he really was before mounting a counteroffensive. His heart was already hammering in his chest and nothing had yet to begin.

"Are you waiting for me to make a move first, coward?" Wufei sneered, figuring out Duo's game plan. "I might as well do the _honorable_ thing and not disappoint. Prepare yourself!"

In the next instant, Wufei was right in front of him and Duo's concentration was focused primarily on either dodging or blocking Wufei's rapid attacks. The Chinese wasn't putting all his power into his strikes but he didn't need to as his slices were aimed for sensitive points on his body. From the smirk on Wufei's face, Duo could only surmise that he was holding back, hoping to embarrass him in front of everyone.

Duo would not let that happen. He would make Wufei work for this if he wanted it so badly.

Unfortunately, even with such thoughts, Wufei managed to weave through his defenses just enough to tauntingly slap him. Jerking back more in surprise, Duo eyed Wufei warily, wondering how the Chinese had managed to do that.

Wufei looked smug and wasn't even breathing hard. His body was moving slightly despite remaining in just one place, making him look quite sensual to the untrained eye. This was not good, he would have to literally focus everything on Wufei and not even be able to plan ahead.

It seemed that he was in over his head this time.

With the speed of a striking snake, Wufei's hands cleaved through the air and Duo was forced to do everything he could not to be touched by the slices. He could tell that Wufei had slowed himself down, saving his energy for future use while forcing him, Duo, to expend all of his quickly.

Well, they'd just see about that.

In the midst of parrying a slice, Duo reversed his hand and gripped onto Wufei's wrist and twisted with all his might. However, Wufei was already in the process of twisting his body, his other hand cutting through the air to strike his head. Reacting quickly, Duo caught the chop and forced both captured appendages down behind Wufei's back. The next thing the braided one knew next was that Wufei's knees were suddenly on either side of his head and then everything was a blur until he felt his back impact the ground, his head just barely missing a rock that jutted from the earth.

He felt a foot slam onto his chest and begin to grind into his torso mercilessly as he heard Wufei's voice come somewhere from above. "Had enough yet, loser? You don't stand a chance against me."

Clenching his teeth, Duo crossed his arms, capturing Wufei's ankle between his lower arms and twisted. Wufei was already twisting his body in response, allowing himself to turn his body 180 degrees and drop. Catching movement from his peripheral vision, Duo moved his head barely in time to miss the foot that was coming straight at his head. Fortunately for him, Wufei's aim had been just slightly off and his toes ended up being crushed against the small rock that had been next to Duo's head.

Wufei's face grimaced in pain but he was not about the throw in the towel unlike certain NBA stars. Forcing the pain in his toes to the back of his mind, he flipped his body around so that he was only balancing on his hands and a foot while his other foot had been raised high in the air. Flinging it downwards with all his might, Wufei attempted an odd version of a drop kick. Duo managed to roll out of the way in time and Wufei's heel ended up jarring against the ground.

With his arms still on the ground, Wufei pushed himself back up onto his feet. He had very little time to act as Duo performed a high kick, his foot impacting Wufei's gut. However, like Heero before him, Wufei grabbed Duo's foot but twisted it instead. Duo let himself spin in midair to prevent his leg from being twisted too badly and he was once again reacquainted with the ground once more.

Balancing on his hip, Duo spun himself, temporarily resembling a break-dancer, and kicked Wufei's feet out from underneath him. The Chinese fell but caught himself on his hands and pushed up, performing a flip so that he was more able to regain his footing.

Duo wiped the sweat off his brow as his eyed his more skilled opponent, trying to figure out a way to get an advantage on him. There was no mistaking that Wufei was better, much better than he himself. However, he wasn't as skilled like his uncle was since Deng performed such feats practically everyday in his classes.

Circling the Chinese teen, Duo contemplated what he was going to do next, Wufei also following the circle. He couldn't find an opening on the guy and it was really messing his mojo up. If he could only read his opponent better, perhaps he would be able turn the tables and maybe even beat this guy! The phrase "if wishes were fishes…" popped into his mind and he forced himself to resign to his current situation, even as the muscles in Wufei's arm suddenly tensed…

Wait a second…

Before he could do anything with that piece of info, Wufei was on the attack again, using kicks as well as punches and chops in his barrage. Becoming determined, Duo blocked a few blows and tried to land a few of his own only for Wufei to block or dodge him. As a last ditch effort, Duo twisted his head, letting his braid whip out and smack Wufei lightly on his check.

Surprised by the painless, yet quite unorthodox, attack, Wufei was unable to stop Duo's next blow from impacting his gut. The air rushed out of his body as Duo twisted around and high kicked him on the forehead, causing him to stumble back and land gracelessly on his ass.

Wufei wasn't the only one surprised by what happened. Duo himself was shocked at what he had just done but his confidence gained a boost. Perhaps he could beat down Wufei…

Onyx eyes blazing in uncontrolled fury, Wufei was on his feet and charging at him, crying out in anger as he began his next assault with a chop that was followed by a right hook then a left jab. Duo managed to block all but the jab and that was where Wufei pounced.

Wrapping his arm around Duo's neck, Wufei forced him to bend down forward so that he could land three quick punches to the small of Duo's back. The impacts sent an electrical-like surge up his spinal cord each time one was landed, intense pain instantly following after. A knee to his gut made him forget about those hits though and as he fought to get his breath back, he was uppercutted, stumbling backwards and falling onto his back, dazed.

--

Every muscle in Solo's body was twitching, high strung like a string instrument as he forced himself to remain where he was, despite the fact he wanted to charge in there and rescue Duo. His hands were fisted so tightly that he had white knuckles while his teeth were clenched so hard that he could have sworn that he was close to shattering them.

Yet, he remained faithful and true to his word. He would not leave his post in the audience but that didn't mean that he had to like it.

--

"Had enough yet?" Wufei taunted as he closed the distance between himself and the fallen braided one. Duo panted as he glared the best he could under the circumstances at the towering Chinese whose shadow fell over him.

Smirking nastily, Wufei continued, "I shouldn't have expected much from a rat like you. I'm ashamed that I would even stoop to fighting someone as weak as you are." To emphasize his point, he lifted his foot up and smashed it down onto Duo's lower thigh. As Duo cried out in pain, Wufei said apologetically, "Sorry about that. I was aiming for your knee."

However, in order to have done what he had done, Wufei had to move closer to him and despite the pain he was in, Duo took advantage of it as best as he could. He spun his back on the ground and wrapped his legs around Wufei's shins and calves into a leglock. Twisting his hips, he forced Wufei to loose his balance and fall to the ground, catching himself with his hands at the last minute by planting them down onto the ground. Shoving himself upwards, Duo got a hold of the Chinese's torso with one hand while holding the other up in the air before leveling a chop right onto the back of Wufei's neck.

Recovering quickly, Wufei pushed back and twisted his body and landed three repetitive blows into Duo's ribs but failing to dislodge the braided one. Then, by pure accident, Duo swung an arm at Wufei and impacted his elbow into Wufei's nose. This caused the Chinese to let go of any pretense of attacking and fall back while clutching the facial blow. Untangling himself as fast as he could, Duo put some space between himself and Wufei, braced for the Chinese's palpable counterattack.

Not disappointing the braided one, Wufei lunged at him in fury yet Duo caught the signs. Wufei wasn't using finesse or any of his formidable skill in this attack. He was moving just like a street brawler for just a few seconds but that was more than enough for Duo.

Duo let himself fall back before Wufei reached him but shot his feet out to impact the charging teen, his hands grabbing a hold of the other's wrists. With his feet in Wufei's gut, Duo pushed up his legs while rolling onto his back. However, Duo didn't use enough force to send the Chinese flying. Instead, Wufei was impaled on his feet, the appendages digging into his gut and diaphragm, gravity giving him a helping hand this time around.

Bending his knees slightly and pulling Wufei's arms down, Duo brought his knees towards himself, causing Wufei to continue in an arc-like motion to land on his head behind the braided one, momentum and gravity working in sync to cause the rest of Wufei's body to continue moving until his back struck the ground. A gasp of shock rose from their spectators and Duo heard the sound of running feet. He could hear Wufei groan in pain as he pushed and propped himself up onto his hands.

Feeling two hands grab his shoulders tightly, he found himself captured by two concerned, green orbs.

Frowning, Duo asked, "I thought I told you not to get involved."

"The fight looks over to me," Solo stated coolly. "There's no point in staying any longer. C'mon, lets go."

"Don't touch me!" a voice interrupted. Sighing, Duo turned his head to look at the grounded Wufei whose eyes, even though he was in pain, were glaring at him. Refusing any aid from the spectators, he growled, "This is not over Maxwell. Come over here and finish this!"

Shaking his head in negation, Duo simply replied, "I don't think so."

Growling, Wufei snarled, "What, too much of a coward to continue?!"

"No, I'm not like you," Duo answered. "Unlike you, I know when a fight's over. You better get some help and get someone to look at your head. Don't want you dieing from a concussion in your sleep."

"Not until I've grounded you into dust," Wufei growled, not moving though.

Looking up pleadingly at Solo, the blond nodded at the braided one and pulled him to his feet. "I've got better things to do," Duo said, remorseless. "I'm tired. I'm going home."

Not looking back, Duo used Solo as a human crutch and walked away, ignoring the evil glare Wufei leveled at him from behind.

They had only gone a block away from the lot before Solo dared to say, "About what you said to Chang back there…"

"What about it?" Duo cut in, weary.

"Did you mean what you said?" Solo asked bluntly. "Or were you lying through your teeth? You can't tell me you don't want to mop the city with that asshole's face."

"While I will admit that I would like to do that, yes, I was serious," Duo answered.

"But if you wanted to, then why did you lie?" Solo asked, confused.

"Whoever said I lied?" Duo countered. 'I only said I'd like to beat the living crap out of him but I also am tired and I don't like to pick on people who are down. When you know you've got the advantage, why continue? What would be the point?"

"How about emphasizing that you're serious?" Solo said.

"Please, only bullies and pieces of shit do that," Duo stated. "Why should I beat up on Wufei when it's obvious that he's hurt already? That would only make me as bad as Wufei and the last thing I want is to be thought of like that. I'd rather be a nobody who no one pays attention to than to be a somebody who picks on other people just because they can."

"Huh." Solo looked thoughtful but didn't say anything else, obviously considering Duo's words.

Neither of them knew that Quatre and Trowa were behind them, following after their friends quietly.

The silence would eventually be interrupted by Solo one more time as he asked, "Um, Duo? Do you know where we need to go to get out of this place?"


	24. Solo's Masculinity Confirmed

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: slight language, violence

Solo's Masculinity Confirmed

Whoever invented ice deserved a fucking medal.

Nothing felt better than having a cold ice bag on a large ass bruise. Duo definitely knew he would still be sore tomorrow but at the moment he couldn't have cared less.

Now, if only Mr. Winner wasn't in this particular living room, watching him like a hawk. Perhaps then he could relax a bit…

"You know," the elder man began, "when I decided to let you board here, I didn't think that you were the type of person to get into fights or get into such trouble."

Duo remained silent, knowing that any verbal response he could make would be the wrong one.

"So, Duo, how did you get into this mess?" Mr. Winner asked dryly.

"To tell the truth, I don't really know," Duo answered sheepishly.

"Oh, but you must know something," Mr. Winner pressed. "It's not every day somebody gets into a fist fight with the only son of the Chang Family."

"It was just a bunch of…" Duo trailed off, trying to think of a more eloquent word than "shit" or "crap." "It was just a lot of stuff that kept piling on and on until it reached the boiling point," he finally answered.

"Do you know what started it all then?"

"To be honest, I don't really know. The guy just suddenly started to hate me one day and I've never figured out why though he'll tell you different. Everybody seems to know the reason except for me."

"Did anything happen today that may have culminated in today's incident?"

"I don't know. He just popped up in front of me and Solo as we were leaving school and he challenged me to a fight, saying that we would settle things right here and now."

"How come I wasn't informed of a fight at the school then?"

"I took it somewhere else; didn't really want to cause a scene at school, even if it was over with."

Mr. Winner grunted but said nothing else as he continued to watch Duo, his eyes boring into him. Duo shifted uncomfortably under that gaze, wondering if it had been a good idea to come right out with what had happened the moment he and the others had gotten back to the mansion. What was the guy thinking about, anyway? Was he thinking about kicking him back out onto the streets?

"It was very courageous of you to tell me what happened the moment you returned here," Mr. Winner finally began after some time had passed. "You didn't try and hide it and I am impressed by your initiative. However, I do not approve of you agreeing to participate in such reckless bouts of violence. Violence never solved anything and your deal with the young Chang is far from over."

Sighing, Duo nodded in understanding. If anything, he probably made Wufei hate him even more today. God only knew what he was up to now…

"However, I would like to know just one thing," Mr. Winner continued. "What possessed you to tell me about this? You could have not said anything about it and I wouldn't have been any the wiser about it."

"Better informed is better prepared," he answered readily. "If Wufei finds out that I'm staying here, he'll tell his parents and they'll get on your case about it. Since I'm staying under your roof, I figure that you have a right to know what I get into."

Nodding, Mr. Winner replied, "That's very responsible of you, Duo."

"Hey, if you think I'm anything like the guy who is suppose to be my father, you better guess again," Duo quipped. "I take responsibility for my actions."

Cracking a small smile, Mr. Winner said, "I kind of figured that out for myself. While on the subject, do you see those papers over there?"

Glancing over at said papers that rested on the coffee table in front of him, Duo nodded warily.

"I just received those a few hours ago," Mr. Winner explained. "They are a proposal from WEI's main competitor, Romafellor."

Duo's eyes narrowed. "What is it about?"

"They want to form a trust with us," Mr. Winner stated bluntly.

"But isn't that illegal?" Duo blurted out, questioning the older male.

"In some countries, yes it is. However, according to the proposal, it would just be put under a different wrapping and presented to the rest of the world as the greatest thing since sliced bread."

"So, why are you telling me this?"

"Because you have a more…intimate knowledge of how Romafellor does business, no matter its field. I want to know what your opinion on this matter is. I've already sent copies to the other executives of WEI so I'll be learning what they think about it soon enough. What I want to know is what do _you_ think about it and if there might be something in-between the lines that we would normally miss?"

Looking down at the papers thoughtfully, Duo debated what to do about them before looking back up at Mr. Winner and saying, "Let's take a look at them."

--

If one was to say that Solo was anxious as he eyed the door to his uncle's study for the one hundredth and thirty-first time, that would be the understatement of the century. He had been right near appalled at Duo going straight to his uncle as soon as they got back to the mansion and admitted to getting into a fight with the China guy.

He himself had probably been in over a hundred fights and his own father probably only knew about three of them. What was possessing the guy to tell Uncle Raberba about the fight when he would most likely never hear about it? It was absolutely mind-boggling.

Glancing back at the study doors for the one hundredth and thirty-second time, he released a long-suffering sigh. How long was Uncle Raberba going to take anyway? He hoped that he hadn't changed his mind on letting Duo stay here. That would really be a fun killer—er, disappointment…

Still, he would rather be out here than be in the company of his cousin who was taking his damn sweet time saying goodbye to his boyfriend while playing a game of tonsil hockey. Honestly, they were going to have to come up for air sometime. Plus, it was just too mushy for his tastes the way those two fawned over each other.

Shooting his one hundredth and thirty-third glance at the study doors, Solo began to pace before the doors, willing time to speed up or for the two guys in there to finish up.

Was he obsessed or something? Probably. However, he could explain that away, at least to himself, as just wanting to keep an eye out for his smaller friend. And also because he couldn't resist physically touching the little guy, his hands being kept somewhere on Duo's person at any reasonable time.

"They're still not out yet?"

Looking behind him, he spotted Quatre behind him and just grunted in answer, casting a look at the doors for the one hundredth and thirty-fourth time.

Hiding a knowing smile from his larger cousin, Quatre suggested, "Why don't we get a snack or something? It beats just waiting out here for them."

Solo gave him a "like Hell I'm leaving" look and glanced at the study doors for the one hundredth and thirty-fifth time.

"It's not helping anybody with you out here," Quatre argued. "You might as well relax and wait just like everybody else."

Solo grounded his fist into the palm of his hand in answer. It was obvious that he wasn't going to agree with Quatre and would be stubborn about it until he got his way. What that was, Quatre had no clue but Solo seemed very determined to have it anyway.

Perhaps he could think of something to take Solo's mind off of whatever it was he was so focused on. His chances for success were slim but he had to try nonetheless.

Latching onto the first thing to come to mind, Quatre said, "Since I guess that trying to get you to leave the hallway is moot, how about we talk about something else, like what are your plans for this Friday?"

Solo gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean by that?" he demanded.

"Well, this Friday is Homecoming and the school usually has a dance of some sort," Quatre explained. "I'm going with Trowa this year. Would you like to come as well?"

Now Solo's first instinct was to say "screw that" when a thought occurred to him. "You guys going to make it a date or something?" he asked.

"We usually do," Quatre answered, uncertain, curious as to what his cousin was thinking of.

"I think I might join ya," Solo said, a small grin forming. "But first, I got to get me a date."

Now Quatre caught on to Solo's train of thought. "Well, good luck with that," he told him. "Duo's never gone to one and has refused to go each and every time."

"Q, don't you know me by now?" Solo asked. "I can get Short Stuff to come with me. I want to see the rest of the school's looks when they see me and him together."

"But you guys aren't even in a relationship," Quatre stated.

Sparing Quatre a look, Solo simply replied, "You think too much Q."

At this point, the two blond Winners heard the study doors open and Quatre was amused to no end to see Solo move towards them like a little puppy.

His father was the one to come out first and he didn't so much as quirk an eyebrow at seeing Solo on the other side of the doors. Quatre mused that his father probably had other things to take care of since he was already leaving them. Glancing back where his cousin had been, he was not surprised to see him physically not there, the most obvious explanation being that he had gone into the study to retrieve Duo.

Telling from the sounds of protest he could hear, he wasn't wrong by a long shot.

The next thing he knew, Solo had emerged with a flustered Duo, the blond holding the smaller teen bridal style and nuzzling his cheek against Duo's. Duo was obviously not happy with the arrangement but he wasn't squirming as much as he usually did.

Eh, it was probably because he was still sore from the fight. Yeah, he could see it now. Duo was being real tender with his legs and not using them as much as he usually did.

Meanwhile, Solo was like the proverbial cat who got the canary. Quatre was soon suspicious since the taller Winner had a grin on, one that was far from innocent he might add. However, before Quatre could make any attempt to possibly rescue his friend, Solo had taken off down the hallway at a leisurely pace, audibly teasing the braided one as he did so.

Not for the first time, Quatre really wondered about his cousin. His attitude was always changing at the drop of a hat and without warning. Perhaps Duo was right in asking if Solo was a girl.

Those estrogen flares were very suspect…

--

It had been decided.

Short Stuff was especially adorable when he was grumpy.

Perhaps that was the reason why he hadn't left his side yet and kept on asking if he needed anything else. Much to his disappointment, Duo didn't need anything else, thank you very much, thus the blond found himself camped out right beside the braided one, waiting for the next need that Duo needed satisfied.

Duo, on the other hand, while appreciating the gestures, was growing quite annoyed by this but did nothing to let it be known. It wasn't as if he could make the blond beside him do something else. Past experience with the guy only proved that Solo only did what Solo wanted and if your name wasn't Solo, then too bad, so sad. Still, the guy was a comfy pillow, Duo would admit that much, though never to Solo's face since he had a feeling the guy wouldn't let him live it down.

Truth be told, Solo didn't mind that he was being used as a pillow since it gave him a reasonable excuse to wrap his arm around Duo's shoulders. Since neither of them had any better ideas, currently they were in Duo's room watching some show (or was it a movie?) on the T.V. Telling by the explosions and constant swearing, the blond assumed they were watching some action fic but he couldn't be too sure about that.

However, there was something else more important on his mind than the explosions on the T.V. at this point in time and he wanted to put it out in the open. Jolting his shoulder gently to get Duo's attention, violet eyes unglued themselves from the T.V. and looked up at him questioning.

Since it had been him to make the first move, he started out by asking, "I was wondering; do you have any plans this Friday?"

"Why?" Duo asked back, eyes suspicious.

"Just curious," Solo replied easily. "I heard there was a school dance and I thought that perhaps we could go to it."

"The Homecoming Dance? No thanks," Duo said.

"And why not?" Solo inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"Haven't gone to one yet and don't plan on doing so anytime soon," Duo stated. "Besides, why the hell would I go?"

"Well, there is me," Solo answered proudly, as if that was all the incentive that was needed.

"Yeah, and what about you?" Duo quipped.

"What do you mean what about me?"

"What's so special about you that is going to make me want to go to that stupid dance?"

Solo chuckled. "You are so naïve," he teased as he ruffled Duo's hair.

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Duo growled.

"What I've trying to say is I'll go to that dance with you," Solo explained patiently, as if talking to a small child.

"Huh? What?" Duo was baffled. "Go with me? You mean as friends?"

"What do you think I mean?" Solo purred.

He hadn't spent so much time in the blond's presence to not know what the guy was hinting at. "You can't be serious," he spoke. "What reason would you want to go with me? It's not as if we're together or something."

"Would you like to change that?" Solo asked.

Not expecting such a thing, Duo's jaw dropped and he stared incredulously up at the blond. "W-w-why?" he stuttered.

"Do I really need a reason?" Solo shot back. "I like you and I definitely know you feel something about me so why do that tip-toeing around the subject crap and just take it head on? It saves a lot of time and energy that way. So, what do you say? Want to make this an official thing or what?"

"So this is just something you're doing on a whim?" Duo demanded.

"Hell no!" Solo exclaimed. "You think I'd do this just for anybody?!"

"Well, you did do it with an entire ballet team," Duo pointed out.

"It was an orgy!" Solo defended. "You can't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing!"

"Well, I wouldn't know," Duo sniffed, turning his face away. "Nobody has ever given me the opportunity anyway."

Solo stared at him and then a perverted grin took hold. "Oh, so you're a virgin, huh?"

Duo could admit no denial and flushed in embarrassment instead.

"Not like that's a bad thing," Solo commented. Nuzzling his check into the chestnut hair, he continued, "I can show you so much and I don't just mean the physical either."

"Okay, you're going to have to explain that last one," Duo stated. "I've always gotten the impression that sex is a big part of everything concerning relationships with you."

"It's not as big as you think," Solo replied. "Besides, you're someone that I actually like. So how about it? Would you like to go steady with me or not?"

Duo sighed. "Am I sure you are who you say you are?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Solo asked back, perplexed.

"The last time I was in a relationship like the one you are proposing, the other person was actually a girl," Duo explained.

"What was the problem with that?"

"I thought she was a _guy_."

"Let me guess. Quatre set you up?"

"You guess right."

Chuckling, Solo took a hold of Duo's chin gently and turned the braided one's head so that he could look into the violet eyes. "You need not worry about _that_. I'm going to be upfront right here and now and say that I'm a guy, one hundred percent."

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?" Duo countered.

Smirking, Solo took one of Duo's hands and shoved it down his pants. Duo's violet eyes widened and his face turned a red so red that Solo hadn't thought it was possible.

"O-okay…you're telling the truth," Duo gasped out loud, his blush miraculously reddening even further.

"So what's your answer?" Solo asked cheekily, his grin growing larger with every second that passed.

Duo remained silent, not answering at all. For a moment, Solo thought the poor guy had passed out or something until he received the shaky reply. "I g-guess I c-could-d give-e-e it another-er g-g-go," Duo stammered.

"Just what I wanted to hear," Solo purred deeply and gently placed his lips onto Duo's. Pulling back, he said, "You better get your rest, Short Stuff. Tomorrow, we are going to get you some things that you _are_ going to need for Friday."

"Um, Solo?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I take my hand out of your pants now?"


	25. Have Mercy on this Braided Fool's Soul

Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait but I had a mild case of writer's block, one that has managed to resolve itself, not completely mind you, but for the most part will not hinder the fic. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, slight bigotry

Have Mercy on this Braided Fool's Soul

Opening his eyes from resting them for a few minutes, Duo focused everything he had on the task before him. Beads of sweat slid down his face and he could feel a headache beginning somewhere in his head but not of that mattered.

What he was about to do was important, extremely important. It would mean the difference between success and failure, life and death, good and evil, yadda yadda yadda…

The defining moment was at hand and he stilled his hand as he prepared for this one, final task.

"What's taking so long?" Solo whined, tired of waiting for Duo to do something.

"Shush!" Duo hissed.

Crossing his arms over his chest, Solo grumbled inaudibly but did nothing else as he glowered at the braided one.

Taking in a deep breath and eyeing the object in front of him carefully, he extended his hand out to pick the last piece that he needed. As his hand hovered over it, Duo swallowed and slowly began to lower his hand…

"Damn it all, it's just a fucking piece of parsley!" Solo snapped, his patience having run out.

Jerking his hand away, the small green piece of edible decoration pinched between two fingers, Duo glared at his cooking partner. "First of all, you don't know anything about the culinary arts," Duo replied. "Second, there is no second; I'm just trying to make sure we get a good grade, that's all."

"We're gonna get a good grade already!" Solo said exasperated. "A measly piece of parsley is not going to mean the difference between an A and a B, okay?"

Duo just shook his head and cleared his mind again as he prepared to place said parsley in just the right spot. If only Solo knew that Ms. Bloom thought that parsley made a meal look fancy, even if it came from a fast food restaurant. The parsley _would_ make the difference.

"Who eats parsley anyway?" Solo continued. "It's just a useless waste of space if you ask me."

On any other circumstance, Duo would have wholeheartedly agreed with that but right now he was just trying to make a good grade on his Home Ec. class. Was that too much to ask for? Was it?!

Okay, okay, he was cool now. Now, he just needed a few more seconds until…

Finally! With the parsley placed where it needed to be, his work was finished. Now he could sit back and relax just like his group, which only consisted of him and Solo at this point in time.

Looking over at the blond, he could tell he was about to make another protest about the small green plant when the teacher just happened by.

"Looking good as always Duo!" she chirped, eyes lightening up at the sight of the parsley. "Ooh, I see you've gone on all the stops this time. I can't wait to see how it will taste, it's so fancy looking!"

Duo snickered to himself as Solo stared at him wide-eyed. "You knew she was going to do that, right?" his voice cracked out.

"Why else would I have done all that crap?" Duo retorted cheekily. "Sometimes ya gotta put a little more effort into stuff to get something good out of it."

"I don't know, sounds like too much work," Solo mused aloud.

"You're just a regular slacker, aren't you?" Duo drawled.

"Damn straight," Solo agreed.

"So, what do you have planned later today?" Duo asked conversationally.

When Solo mischievous smile answered, Duo couldn't help but feel that something horrible was waiting for him. "You'll find out after school, Short Stuff," Solo drawled. "You'll be all _mine_ then and there won't be any escape."

"What are you up to?" Duo asked suspiciously. Hey, he couldn't help it if he was looking out for his ass—his general wellbeing he meant. This was his life on the line!

Solo chuckled darkly, his green eyes lighting up malevolently. "You'll find out," he replied cryptically, not giving away anything that was going on in that brain of his.

Duo could've sworn that somebody just walked over his grave…

--

Life was so unfair!

And it was just getting worse and worse all the time!

Heero gritted his teeth as he glared at the oblivious doctor who had just informed him about the full amount of damage his leg had sustained. Not only had the bones been broken but the ligaments and cartilage was all fucked up as well. It was confirmed: he could never play football competitively again. And to add insult to injury, they were going to make him have to stay a while longer in the hospital! It wasn't that he didn't mind the bit about having to stay in the hospital, which he did, but it was because tomorrow was Homecoming and he was going to not only miss it but the game that he had been looking forward to all year, the very game where he would not only lead the team to victory but also win the Homecoming King's crown.

But now it was all ruined thanks to that little braided loser. His life was ruined; it was over. He had nothing now. He couldn't play football anymore, Relena had quit stalking him, Wufei had stopped visiting for some reason, and the rest of his senior year was going down the toilet as he sat there with a cast on his leg, given to him by a certain blond newbie courtesy of that menace!

There was going to be HELL to pay when he got out of here! Duo Maxwell was going to pay dearly for this! But why stop there? That Solo guy was also going to pay! He was going to perfect his already perfect self and show them both why nobody messed with Heero Yuy!

"Snap out of it Heero!"

Blinking, his musings were shredded as he realized that Wufei was back at his bedside and he didn't look like his usual self. Did something happen?

"What's up?" he asked, hoping for some good news to raise his spirits a bit.

Rubbing his eyes in irritation, Wufei stated, "If you heard me, then you would know that things aren't up but down."

"What happened," Heero demanded, his earlier anger returning with a vengeance.

"Maxwell made a complete fool out of me yesterday!" Wufei exclaimed. "I don't know how he did it but that cur turned the school against me!"

"How the hell did he do that?!" Heero growled, his anger directed at a certain braided teen.

"I issued the runt a challenge after school," Wufei explained. "I was beating him too, everybody was watching! I had him! But then, I don't know what he did but he cheated and I found myself on the ground with him over me! And you know what he did next? He refused to continue fighting!"

"That pathetic loser," Heero commented in agreement.

"However, he made it seem like _I_ was in the wrong," Wufei continued to rant. "He said something like he had better things to do. _Better things to do_! What could have been more important than that? But that's not all! He said that I ought to go see a _doctor_, like I needed medical care like some weak _woman_. He humiliated me in front of the other students and now they don't give me the respect that you and I worked so hard to achieve!"

Heero's vision was slowly becoming red in his fury. Now he wanted more than anything to wrap his hands around that little twerp's neck and squeeze the life out of him slowly…

"…and if that wasn't enough, he now has the Peacecraft girl on his side!" Wufei continued. Heero hadn't been paying much attention to what his friend had been saying but the sudden reference to his ex-stalker captured his attention absolutely.

"He _what_?" he snarled.

Seeing that he hit a sore spot, Wufei elaborated without consideration. "Your stalker made a public apology to the rat and denounced you while she was at it. She's _his_ friend now."

That only served to fan the flames of outrage. How dare that little faggot take away what was his? It wasn't enough that he had taken his future away, now he was taking his life? Like hell he was going to give that up without a fight. The moment he got back to school, he'd make sure Duo Maxwell knew his place. While he was at it, that blond lackey of his, Solo, would get a similar treatment. Both of them were going to pay, one way or another.

Seeing the reaction from his friend, Wufei managed to hide a smile away.

--

Duo was sure that he was in Hell at this moment. He really and truly believed that. It wasn't that he didn't mind spending time with Solo, it's just that the guy had dragged him into a place where he never thought he would set foot in for at least another ten years.

Sure, it was nice that Solo wanted to make him look good for tomorrow evening but he was beginning to take this a little bit too far. He guessed that this is what happens when a guy has too much money and too much time on his hands.

"C'mon!" Solo whined from the other side of the dressing room door. "What's your problem with it? It looks good on you!"

He was okay with the dress shirt that was made of real silk (Just okay? He loved the damn thing!). He was okay with the dress pants that were miraculously not itchy or uncomfortable, which remained to be seen in future years. He was okay with the black, custom-fitted jacket with the button up wrist cuffs. However, there was only one thing that he drew the line at and outright refused.

"I am not wearing it, so put that damn thing back where you found it Tree Trunk!" Duo avowed, refusing to open up the only barrier between him and the blond terror that was just waiting to pounce on him.

"Don't be so fussy!" Solo complained. "Just try it on!"

"My answer is no, Tree Trunk, and it's not going to change anytime soon," Duo stated.

"But it'll make you look cute!"

"What part of 'no' do you not understand; the 'n' or the 'o'?"

"Duo…"

"I am not putting on the bowtie and that's final!" Duo exclaimed.

"You are going to put this on or we're not leaving!" Solo warned.

"Then I might as well make myself at home," Duo shot back.

"Why do you have to make this difficult?" Solo complained.

Smirking, Duo replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Silence. Raising an eyebrow, Duo waited for Solo to say something, nothing ever coming though. However, Duo was not easily fooled. He was sure that Solo was just trying to trick him into taking the risk of opening the locked dressing room door. Well, Duo Maxwell was not going to fall for such an obvious trap. He could stay in this dressing room for the rest of the day if he had to. There was no way he was going to put that bowtie on and that was that!

The ring of silence continued. Duo began to wonder if Solo was even still outside the door, waiting for him. A sudden knock on the door startled him.

"Is everything okay in there?" a voice asked and the braided one recognized it as belonging to one of the employees here.

"Yeah, it is," he called out in reply. "Say, is there a blond guy out there with you?"

"No, there isn't," the voice answered. "I'm the only one here. Why do you ask?"

He was safe. For now at least. Unlocking the door, he peeped out first, much to the amusement of the employee but he caught no sign or trace of Solo. This was suspicious. What was that guy up to now?

"How do you like your suit?" the employee asked.

"I like it very much," Duo answered, not paying attention to the employee as he was eyeing anything and everything for any sign of his blond antagonist. That guy was up to something, he knew it.

"Is there something wrong?" the employee asked again.

"Yeah, there's a six foot tall, blond guy with long hair running somewhere around here and I know he's just waiting to ambush me," Duo answered, not looking back at the guy once.

What happened next happened so quickly that Duo was not aware of it until it was too late. The only thing that alerted him was the sudden tightening around his neck, along with the sudden wall that pressed against his back. Standing stock still, Duo fervently prayed that what he thought happened didn't.

He was doomed to be disappointed as he glanced down and saw the dreaded bowtie attached to his collar. When the wall behind him began to rumble, he didn't need three guesses to figure out that the wall wasn't a wall but a person. A person that was so dead…

"There, now we're talking!" Solo praised as he spun the braided one around so that he could make a closer inspection of his handiwork and straighten out the bowtie. The energy in his body vanishing, Duo's shoulders slumped.

"Just answer me this," Duo pleaded. "How did you do it?"

"I hid in the next dressing room and waited," Solo explained. "That guy over there just happened to come at the right time, that's all."

Throwing the employee a subtle glare, Duo resigned himself and allowed Solo to have his way with him. It just wasn't worth it when the guy always won…


	26. Saved by the Patriarch

Author's Note: I would like all who read this to check out my profile and vote in a poll that I have recently begun. There is a time limit, June 30, so please, I would love to know what y'all think. By the way, this fic has really been sapping all my creative juices and I feel like I need a bit of a break. This does not mean I will not be updating, just expect them less frequent and about once a week, guaranteed or your money back. To those that know me, I am literally chapters ahead so if writer's block pops up, there will still be updates. Without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Saved by the Patriarch

Despite the excited fervor of the day, school passed uneventfully. Not even the rally held at the end of the day had been particularly exciting, at least it wasn't in Duo's opinion.

Having his fill of over-pumped jocks, geeky band kids, and chirpy cheerleaders who just didn't know when to shut up, Duo was more than glad when he entered the Winner mansion that afternoon. Tiredly, he let himself slumped down on the nearest couch, his head flopped lifelessly on the furniture's support. He didn't know what made him feel so exhausted but he suspected it had to do with the fact that an innumerable amount of girls had approached and asked/begged/pleaded with Solo to go with them to the Homecoming Dance. In his typical fashion, Solo refused every one of them.

When asked if he was even going, he had answered that yes, he was. When demanded to explain why he wouldn't say yes to any of them, he answered dangerously that he already had a date. After that, Duo had been real tense since almost the entire female population was on the lookout for Solo's date, all foaming at the mouth and ready to tear the unlucky girl to shreds.

If they only knew…

At least Duo managed to score a small victory of sorts. No football games tonight. He wouldn't be welcomed there anyway. So that meant a nice dinner at the mansion tonight then straight to the dance. Now he was actually dreading it. He was going to look ridiculous with that bowtie! What was going through Solo's head at that time anyway?

Quatre seemed pretty hyped about tonight though. It was probably because that meant that Trowa would be staying over and if last weekend was a sign of anything, a repeat performance could be expected. Of course, that all depended whether or not Trowa got injured during the game, something that Quatre was going to attend. That meant nothing to Duo except that dinner would be served early since Mr. Winner wanted to have one last meal with his son before he closeted himself for the weekend.

Speaking of the weekend, what was he going to do? He knew that he would be stuck with Solo during that time so the question became, what was Solo planning to do over the weekend? From the looks he had been getting from the guy all day, Duo was very wary of what lay in his near future.

Speaking of the devil, he felt the couch cushion next to him shift as a weight sat down on it. Immediately after, he felt an arm pull him up against an all-too-familiar body that had an exorbitant amount of heat radiating from it.

"What's on your mind, Short Stuff?" Solo greeted. "Excited about the Big Night?"

"I'm a little nervous, yeah," he answered truthfully, not seeing a reason why not to converse. "I've never been to one of these things before."

"All you got to do is stay close to me and I won't let anything happen to you," Solo told him.

"That's very nice of you," Duo remarked.

"Hey, I have to look out for my significant other," Solo spouted. "What kind of guy would I be if I didn't look out for ya?"

"I'm just not used to all this," Duo explained.

"I thought you had other relationships," Solo pointed out.

"Yeah, but none of them were like you," Duo replied. "I honestly don't know what to expect anymore."

"Then don't expect anything," Solo quipped. "That way, you'll never be disappointed."

"Point," Duo acknowledged. "But just because you're gonna be there doesn't mean I'm going to be wearing that ridiculous bowtie, alright?"

"I thought we already discussed this," Solo said.

"Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying," Duo defended.

Squeezing him good-naturedly, Solo chuckled, "I will give you that."

"So what are we going to do afterwards?" Duo asked, curiosity finally driving him to enter into this field.

Solo's smile became an ominous grin. "You'll find out, Short Stuff. Later, but not now. Trust me, you're gonna _love_ it."

"That's the one thing I hate about surprises," Duo sighed. "You have to wait for them. Why can't I know now?"

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise," Solo replied, his hand sneaking into his chestnut hair and ruffling it.

"Can't you just give me a hint?" Duo whined.

"Nope," Solo said cheerfully. "Like everybody else, you're going to have to wait for it but trust me, it'll be worth it."

"You are so mean," Duo grumbled but nonetheless let himself melt into the human furnace.

--

Since it was still early and all, dinner wasn't a grand affair when it was expected of them to snack around for the rest of the night. Still, as always, the food was good so Duo had no complaint whatsoever about it.

It was soon after that Quatre disappeared but Duo wasn't worried. He had a good idea where his friend was and the only regret he had was that he didn't time how long it took for Quatre to leave after dinner.

He would've bet anything that the blond was out there in less than five minutes.

Taking a glance at the nearest clock, Duo sighed. That game ought to have begun by now and be going on strong. So what…they had an hour or two before they headed out or something like that? He was getting really nervous now.

In order to pass the time somewhat, he began to fiddle with the end of his braid while staring off into space, doing anything to keep his mind off of the impending evening.

"Are you going to just lie there or are you going to get ready?" a voice from above demanded.

Glancing up, Duo froze at the half naked Solo who only wore a towel around his waist and was using another to dry his hair. Wait…when did Solo get into the shower anyway? Probably when he wasn't looking no doubt. Still, he wasn't going to argue with the guy and he thought that maybe taking a shower himself would calm him down and take his mind off of the dance.

A few minutes later found him under that fantastic shower head and placed under its pleasurable spell. If it wasn't for the age-old problem of wasting away all the hot water in the house, Duo knew he could've stayed in that shower for the rest of the day and night. If he only could…still, he would have to contend wit himself as he massaged his scalp with shampoo and conditioner.

After soaping up and washing all the grime from the day away, he dried himself off with a towel, squeezing the excess water from his hair before leaving the shower itself, and returned to his bedroom. Sitting on his bed, in nothing but the towel he had last seen him in, was Solo, a hair brush in hand.

Solo patted the spot next to him, saying, "Come on over here and let me do that for ya."

Eyeing the hair brush contemplatively, Duo gave no argument as he did as Solo instructed him and had that brush combing his hair once more and feeling the light pleasurable sensations from it once again. He was pulled out of that euphoria, however, at the sudden sound of a hairdryer blowing hot air and the feeling of it on the top of his head.

"What are you…?" Duo trailed off, turning his head slightly to try and get a look at the blond.

"Gotta get your hair dry," Solo answered immediately. "Can't have you walking around with wet hair; you'd catch a cold."

"And when did you suddenly start caring for my health?" Duo inquired, more out of curiosity than anything.

"The moment I found you in that restroom," Solo replied. "Now that we're an item, why shouldn't I be more worried about you?"

"Makes sense," Duo commented. "But…could you do a bit more brushing and a little less blow-drying?"

"I can try," Solo drawled as he turned the appliance off and resumed brushing. "I'm going to have to use it again, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Duo waved off. "We don't have to be going anywhere anytime soon, right?"

Shooting a glance at the nearest clock, Solo nonverbally agreed. They still had plenty of time to get ready. But still, he'd give them an hour until they left. Hey, they had to leave sometime, didn't they? However, Duo's hair was quite soft and very inviting. From what he could see from Duo's body, it just screamed "Take me damn it!" to his perverted view of the world.

Don't think he didn't consider it either.

Still, he barely managed to reign in his hormones and focus his attention on only combing the long chestnut hair, even though most resistance had already been dealt with already. Besides, even though they still had time, there wasn't enough to actually get some fun out of it. So periodically, he would take the hairdryer back up and blow dry the damp hair some more, put it away and continue to brush.

Before he knew it, twenty minutes had passed and, even though he didn't want to do so, he had to stop and tell the smaller teen to get dressed. Duo grumbled his irritation at that but did nothing to resist as he spotted his attire for that evening already set up the bed, just waiting for him to come over and wear them. Much more to his annoyance, that bowtie was among the apparel.

It went without saying that Duo got dressed but he avoided that Godforsaken bowtie until it was the last thing he had to put on. He had even put his shoes on and braided his hair too. It was a little bit later that Solo reappeared in his room, dressed up as well and amused at seeing Duo debate over the bowtie once more. Shaking his head, knowing that the only way to get somewhere was to take charge, he scooped the bowtie up and neatly put it on the disgruntled braided one.

Leading Duo by the hand, the blond blocked out the teen's grumblings as he headed down towards the first floor, their ride just waiting beyond the front doors. It was getting about that time but they could still wait just a little bit more.

And then, of all the times, his uncle decided to make an appearance, observing their attire for the evening. Feeling his uncle's eyes pass over him in approval, he waited for the consent of Duo's before making any move to leave.

However, Mr. Winner's eyes frowned upon catching sight of the bowtie.

Much to Duo's surprise, Mr. Winner declared, "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen. Take that thing off lad; I'll lend you one of my ties for the night."

Having not anticipated this, Solo's eyes bulged out in shock, his mind still reeling as his brain sought to process what had just happened.

Also surprised by this unexpected ally, Duo caught a wink shot towards him and he returned it with a grateful smile. Since Solo still seemed caught in his stupor, Duo managed to pry his hand out of the blond's grip and followed after Mr. Winner. Thank God he wouldn't have to wear this God-awful bowtie anymore. Somebody up there must really like him or something.

Receiving the promised necktie, he heard Mr. Winner comment, "I could tell that you weren't comfortable with that thing on. I honestly have no idea what was running through my nephew's head when he bought it."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate this," Duo told him. "I thought I was going to have to actually go with that thing on. I owe you one man."

"Think nothing of it," Mr. Winner replied. "Just give it to me just in case Solomon tries to make you put it back on once you leave."

"Smart idea," Duo said as he handed the article of clothing to the older man.

Returning back to Solo, who hadn't moved an inch from where he stood, the blond scowl slightly when his eyes caught sight of his beloved bowtie in the hands of his uncle. Damn it, there went his plans!

"Ready to go?" Duo chirped.

Solo stared down at the braided one and raised an eyebrow. "Where'd that come from?" he asked. "Just a little while ago, you didn't want to leave the house."

"Yeah, well, things change," Duo quipped, his smaller hand resuming its former position in the blond's larger hand. "So, are you ready or not?"

Casting one last sorrowful glance at the bowtie, Solo said, "Yeah, yeah, let's go Short Stuff."

Chuckling from Mr. Winner caught them both off guard as they turned to look at the Winner patriarch. Getting a hold of himself, he said, "You two have fun, you hear? Also, ask Quatre what his plans are for the night, okay? I'd like to know if we should cook for him or not."

Shrugging, Solo replied, "Sure thing. See ya later."

Pulling Duo out behind him, he led the braided one over to his car, determined not to let this little setback spoil his evening. He may have lost this battle but he hadn't lost the war yet.

--

Seeing the school with a different perspective, along with seeing it at a different time of the day, was something Duo hadn't experienced before and to be honest, he didn't think he could handle it. This was a school dance for crying out loud! The first one he had ever attended to be precise. To say he was nervous was an understatement.

As if sensing his distress, Solo spoke up, "Everything's going to be all right. I'll take care of ya, no problem, okay?"

"Okay," Duo answered though it didn't quell his anxiety as much as he had hoped. All he had to do was stick next to Solo and everything would be fine, right? Yeah, that's right. He could do this.

As Solo pulled up into the school parking lot and parked, Duo took a look and, immediately, he knew this: _Like hell I can do this!_

"We're here!" Solo chirped as he pulled the key out of the ignition.

At least one of them was in a good mood. Hopefully it would be enough for the both of them.

"Hey, Short Stuff, you coming out?" Solo called to him, already out of the car but peering though the open door at the braided one.

Jerking out of his reverie, Duo stuttered, "Y-yeah, I-I'll be right o-o-out."

Without resisting, Solo chuckled as he shut his car door and walked around to the passenger's side. Opening it, he reached in and unbuckled Duo's seatbelt and pulled his date out. If anything, Duo seemed to shrink a bit more at the enormity of what was about to happen and he pressed himself up against the blond's side.

Slamming the car door shut and locking it, Solo took Duo's hand, which the braided one clung to like a lifeline, and led him towards the gymnasium.


	27. Like a Fish Out of Water

Author's Note: See? Didn't I say I would update sometime this week? I've kept my word, didn't I? But that's not the only thing. I've noticed that only _one_ person has voted in my semi-important poll and it hurts, you know? So please, since I know you people don't have anything else better to do, take only a minute, one single minute, out of your day and put in a vote. Otherwise, enjoy.

I'd also like to give out a "Welcome Back" to Archsage Soren, really missed you buddy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai, slight bigotry

Like a Fish Out of Water

He had to admit, the place didn't look half bad. While in the daytime hours, the gymnasium had looked gaudy with all the student made decorations on the walls. Now with the sunlight gone and the lights dimmed a bit down from what they normally were, it wasn't too bad of a job.

Spread out on one end of the gym were the snack tables that could have easily made a banquet. On the other end was the DJ stand, the DJ himself already up and playing whatever it was that he felt like playing. Off to either side were the bleachers where other students hung out with one another when not doing anything else, the few rows of fold-out chairs providing an alternative seating area. In the middle was the student designated dance area where the teens worked their magic, using any form of dance that they cared to use.

To Duo, it kinda looked like a really calmed version of a mosh pit. Then again, he had never seen a mosh pit before so he wouldn't know anyway.

With this sight before him, he couldn't help but move even closer to his taller companion and grip the blond's hand tighter. He felt Solo shake his hand out of his grasp, leaving the braided one but for a second as he wrapped his arm around its customary perch.

"C'mon," Solo murmured. "What do you want to do first?"

His hands clutching at one another, Duo gulped nervously as he felt a couple pairs of eyes fall on him and pass on to other things. How could he ever think he was ready for something like this? He wanted to go back to the mansion, damn it!

"Let's just sit around for a bit," Solo suggested, catching on to the braided one's dilemma. "We have all night anyway."

Duo could only nod as he eyed the ever growing crowd of students with a suspicious eye.

--

One could not blame Duo for being slightly paranoid this night. There were a couple pair of eyes that caught sight of him but stared at him with malice.

One such pair belonged to Dorothy who was seething at the fact that her blond god had arrived and not in her company. Instead, she was waiting for her "date" to arrive back from the football game that should be over soon. She glared at the braided one as the hunky blond escorted him to the bleachers and sat him down.

She should have been on that hunk's arm by now. Ever since that little conversation with him while decorating the gym, she had tried to change herself enough, physically, to attract his attention. She had followed everything he said that he was attracted to. Well, maybe she hadn't dyed her hair brown but she had done the other things! Her hair was in a French braid and she had allowed her tan to actually show for once. Despite getting a lot of attention for that over the past couple days, Solo hadn't even noticed her! All his attention was on that blasted Duo Maxwell!

He didn't look at anybody else either! He stiffed all the other girls when they asked him out and claimed that he had already been taken. It hadn't taken her long to figure out that he wasn't referring to some other girl but that fag at his side. And showing up with the twerp at his side had only confirmed that.

If he had accepted to take one of the other girls out, she could have let that pass by since she knew that it would only be a matter of time before she could steal him away. But to go out with Duo Maxwell?! How low could you get? What did he have that the rest of the female population at the school didn't have?

It was already a given that she was far from giving up on Solo. She hadn't failed to get any male she set her sights on and she wasn't about to start now.

What the—? That didn't just happen! She had not seen Solo Winner lean over and peck that fag on the cheek just now! She grounded her teeth as her anger and outrage boiled more and more.

It was certainly true when they said "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned…"

--

Duo couldn't help but blush in embarrassment as Solo leaned back. That guy just didn't know when to quit, did he? Still, he had to admit, he felt more comfortable with him at his side. Thus far, no one had approached him to do anything that could possibly ruin his night, such as bodily harm, yet.

Perhaps he was just jumping the gun. Solo wouldn't let anything happen to him. He hadn't thus far, had he?

"I getting a bit thirsty," he murmured to the blond but nearly swore when the guy didn't hear him. Probably couldn't hear over the music. Getting the blond's attention for sure, he repeated himself.

"Want to come with?" Solo proposed, knowing that being alone in this setting would be the last thing Duo would want.

"Yeah, sure," Duo answered as he allowed himself to be escorted over to the food tables. There was quite a selection of food stuff that had been provided but Solo ignored all of them as he led the braided one to the beverages.

Trying out some of the punch first, he gave a second cup to Duo, commenting, "Unspiked. Lucky we got here early."

That was a good thing, right? He had heard the term before but had no idea what it meant. Still, if it wasn't spiked, perhaps that was a good thing since Solo didn't seem like he meant something else.

Back at the bleachers, he calmly sipped as he watched the dancing students in front of him, Solo seemingly content just being at his side. He still hadn't removed his arm but Duo didn't mind, this time at least. To tell the truth, it was really nice just sitting here like this…

"Would you look at that," Solo suddenly murmured in his ear. Following the blond's gaze, he soon was able to pick out Quatre, the Winner boy having just arrived and dressed up already. He spotted them and quickly made his way over before sitting next to them.

"So how'd the game go?" Duo quipped.

"Kick their asses!" Quatre grinned.

"So where's Tro?"

"He'll be here when the rest of the team arrives after they wash up and everything."

"I bet you're so proud," Solo teased the younger blond.

"You bet," Quatre replied naturally. "Personally, I wouldn't mind it if he was still sweaty and was waiting for _me_ in one of the janitor's clos—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Solo interrupted as he covered Duo's ears up. "We don't need to hear your fantasies and Duo shouldn't have to have his mind corrupted by you!"

"Yeah," Duo agreed as he managed to get his ears uncovered.

"Only I get to corrupt his mind," Solo added.

"Yeah," Duo agreed. Catching on to what Solo just said, he twisted around and glared at the taller blond. "_What_?!" he demanded.

"You heard me," Solo teased as he pecked his lips.

As Duo tried to regroup and launch a counterattack, Quatre reentered the conversation. "Sorry about that," he said, humbled. "I forgot that it wasn't my right to corrupt you Duo. Forgive me?"

Turning back to his friend, Duo could only sigh and mutter, "As if it wasn't too late already…" Speaking up, he said, "You're forgiven Q. Just don't let it happen again."

"Besides Q," Solo continued. "You'll just have to watch you're mouth for just a little longer and _then_ you can talk as dirty as you want."

Duo could only blink stupidly as his brain tried to process that bit of information.

Now what the hell did that mean?

He didn't have anymore time to ponder that as the doors to the gymnasium burst open and allowed the victorious football team to enter, their boasts and claims of "kicking the other team's asses" resounding throughout. Duo just rolled his eyes at the immature display of testosterone and folded his arms over his chest. Honestly, didn't those guys have anything better to talk about?

"Trowa!" Quatre cried out and launched himself at the approaching unibanged teen in greeting.

"Ah, young love," Solo commented before calling out, "Why don't you two get a room or something?"

The two teens ignored him in favor of their own company before the eager Quatre began to drag an indulgent Trowa out onto the dance floor. Solo could only shake his head at that before coming up with an idea of his own.

Grinning down at his braided companion, he exclaimed, "Let's dance!"

Blinking, Duo snapped his head up to stare at the blond in shock. "But I don't know how!" he protested.

"Just follow my lead," Solo replied smoothly, grabbing his hand and pulling him up off the bleachers and towards the crowd.

--

A pair of onyx eyes glared at the braided one from a secluded corner. That's right, Chang Wufei, someone who was one of the most popular guys in school was not out mingling and all alone.

What was the cause for him to be in such a position? It was all that fag's fault, that's what. His fellow students were disillusioned with him and they didn't want to be in his presence for too long. He hadn't even a date; no matter how many girls he had asked out, they had all refused, something that had never happened to him before.

Now all he could do was glare balefully at the little fag who was not only responsible for this but also flaunting his sickening weakness about. How _dare_ he, how dare he be out there having a good time with another male while he, Wufei, not only needed to have that (preferable with a female companion) more but deserved to have it more. The fag had ruined him once again and this time, it didn't seem as if he would be about to dig himself out of this one.

His glare only intensified as the loser let himself be led into the dancing group of students and he lost sight of him. Nonetheless, he continued to glare.

--

For years, Duo had always thought that dancing was something that was too difficult to do and only could be done well by a select few persons. However, being surrounded by teens who danced horribly, each trying to perform some sort of extreme move that only made them look ridiculous, served to boost his spirits somewhat.

Plus, Solo's presence was calming somewhat since he moved around like he knew what he was doing. Stopping unexpectedly, the blond tilted his head and listened to the music being played, his head slowly beginning to nod with the beat.

"Pay attention to the noise!" Solo instructed him. "Try to find a rhythm. Bop your head, tap your foot to it, do whatever you want as long as you can keep track of it."

More like trying to copy the blond's own movements that finding his own, Duo then asked, "What next?"

Solo planted a large hand on his hip. "Go with it!" Solo commanded. "Do what your body feels like doing. Don't worry about making yourself look stupid; these other schmucks are doing that well all by themselves."

Well, that certainly helped, didn't it? Still, the braided one did realize that just copying Solo's movements wouldn't be enough. The blond's movements seemed to flow all by themselves, meanwhile his were robotic and stiff. He knew Solo wouldn't let this one go and so, in order to prevent and avoid future embarrassment, he mentally ran through Solo's instructions.

He had to find a rhythm, some kind of beat that was hidden in the music. That was a bit hard seeing as the damn DJ had chosen a fast paced song to play. So, this one time, he used Solo as a compass to find such a beat, eventually coming across what he though was what he was suppose to look for. Bopping his head to keep track of the beat, he proceeded to do the last step: going with it.

He didn't know when his body underwent the transformation from clunky and awkward to smooth and artful, but the next thing he knew he had somehow bumped into something solid. He wasn't able to identify what it was since he had unconsciously closed his eyes a while ago but this solid thing was warm and it flowed about and with him.

The moment he was clued in that this was a person he was up against was when he felt two large hands press up against him and slide around his body, the fingers being dragged along him with a feather light touch. He couldn't help the shiver that climbed up his spine with a devious intent. Something in his brain screamed at him momentarily to open his eyes yet the tempo and beat from the music managed to hum over it and drown it out. He was in a dream world, one that he did not want to wake up from yet he was still conscious enough to know that it wasn't fantasy but reality.

To tell the truth, he had no clue as to what movements and motions that his body was making but the solid presence beside him was in control yet giving him the freedom to do as he pleased. This simple fact made the blood in his body rush with a fire unlike anything that he had ever felt before, something that he was sure that he could get used to.

Time twirled by him slowly it seemed and when the current song was over, he finally opened his eyes, at first barely opening his lids but then allowing them to open further as he took in the dressed torso that he was facing. Glancing up, his violet eyes met up with gentle green ones and he finally noticed that the hands that he had felt earlier were now rested on his hips.

Did he just get way deep into this or what?

Then that was when he heard the last thing that he ever though he would hear directed at him. A cliché Hollywood slow applause from the students that where his peers and were obviously impressed by the display of what ever he had done. Having no clue really as to what they were clapping for, he looked at Solo with questioning eyes.

Chuckling, Solo said, "You're a natural."

His reddened in embarrassment and he crushed his face into Solo's chest, seeking to hide it.

And that was when things got ugly.


	28. Tearing Away the Masks We Wear

Author's Note: Now for the answer you've all been waiting for since last chapter: what happens next. Be prepared for high emotions, intense drama, yadda yadda yadda, and as always, enjoy.

I'd like to give another "Welcome Back" to Vitanie Tora, it's been awhile. Hope everything has been going well for you and that you are feeling all right.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing and I do not own Our Lady Peace's "Bring Back the Sun"

Warning: language, shounen ai, bigotry

Tearing Away the Masks We Wear

The saying "seeing red" would be a good description of what Dorothy was feeling at that moment. One minute, she had allowed herself to be led onto the dance floor by her ever-doting boyfriend, the next she was moving away with the crowd, the mass of people all focused on a certain pair of dancers.

At first, her heart had stopped, seeing that Solo was one of the dancers. Then her heart began to beat with a vengeance as fury boiled her blood once she caught sight of who the blond god's dance partner was.

She ignored the murmurs of praise that swept all around her at the sensual display of skill and talent as she could only focus on the fact that it was that little twerp out there and not _her_. She clenched her teeth and her hands were fisted so tightly that she had white knuckles. She was rapidly losing her fraying control and about to go over the edge any minute now.

Her patience finally snapped when she saw the little twerp bury his face into Solo's chest as soon as he realized the audience that was applauding them. She could not take it anymore. She would not allow this farce to continue any longer!

She had done everything, even changed the way she appeared, just to gain the affections of that blond god and she wasn't going to take it anymore!

Pulling away harshly from her confused boyfriend, she shoved her way through the crowd and stomped up to the two teens, her hatred for the braided teen evident for all to see. Her hands grabbed Duo roughly and tore him away from a surprised Solo, Dorothy mustering all the strength in her body to shove the braided one to the gym floor.

--

It had happened so suddenly that his arms were still up, holding nothing but air, as his braided date was thrown to the floor by one obviously pissed Dorothy. Solo was still blinking in shock, trying to process what had just happened.

Along with everyone else, he watched dumbly as the braided blonde girl grabbed Duo by the front of his tux and pulled his body up so that she could smack him. He winced as the slap was quite audible but that was nothing compared to the words that were spilling forth from the blonde girl's mouth.

"Get your disgusting hands off of him, you little, faggy bastard!" Dorothy screamed into Duo's face. "What ever gave you the idea that you could ever, _ever_ look at him you stupid, little twit! Why don't you go back under that rock that you came out of and never bother us again! Even better, why don't you just die already? This world will be a better place without scum like you messing it up!"

Solo's face contorted in anger and outrage. How dare that slut speak to Duo like that? She was just _begging_ for an asskicking and he never let gender ever stop him before. She was not going to get away with this, no way in hell. Not bothering to keep his rapid approach from being noticed, he roughly grabbed Duo's assaulter and slapped her good and hard before shoving her away.

Dorothy could only stare at him in disbelief and hurt, as if he had betrayed her or something. He took his position between Duo and the slut, raising his fists up and ready to defend his friend from any and all threats.

"Don't you dare lay another finger on him," he hissed. "If you so much as ruffle a _hair_ on his head, I'm going to send you on a one way trip to the emergency ward you two-timing slut!"

He wasn't able to go any further since at this time, Walker stepped up, taking his place between the frightened Dorothy and the furious Solo.

"You're not going to lay a finger on her," he growled, his body trembling from trying to keep himself from rushing Solo.

"You should have a leash on her or something," Solo snapped, his anger starting to blind him. "First she hits on me and now she's attacks Duo. There is no way in Hell I'm about to let her get away with this!"

"Over my dead body!" Walker snarled.

Solo only cracked his knuckles in response as he glared bloody murder at the other teen.

Throughout this whole exchange, Duo stared wide-eyed at both of them. Despite the fact that he was still reeling from Dorothy's hurtful comments, he was still quite aware of his surroundings and knew that things were getting out of hand. He would not, could not let a fight start over him.

So, with a little effort, he reached out and tugged on Solo's pant leg, succeeding in getting the blond's attention. His rage still enflamed, he was not able to hide it all as he turned his head around just enough so that he could eye the braided one.

Taking his courage into his hands, despite being the target of a murderous green eye, Duo pleaded, "Don't."

Solo raised an eyebrow.

Continuing, Duo pressed, "It's not worth it Solo. Just let it go. Please."

He did not waver or shrivel up as he bore the brunt of Solo's gaze. At this point, Solo had turned his body around just enough so that both of his eyes now rested on the braided one that refused to cower before him.

Grasping for straws, Duo blurted, "Do you think _she_ is worth all this?"

Slowly turning around, Solo's gaze bypassed around Walker to get a look of what he could see of the bimbo that had dared to cause this mess. Though still frightened, Dorothy seemed as if she wanted the fight to happen.

Now that his anger had been pierced and touched by Duo's cool yet odd logic, Solo lowered his fists. "You're right," he admitted to Duo. "She isn't worth it."

Without sparing another glance at either Walker or Dorothy, Solo turned his body completely around and pulled the braided teen up to his feet. Duo was relieved to see that the anger that had been mirrored in Solo's green eyes was greatly diminished. Ignoring the spectators around them, he put his arm around Duo's back and began to escort the braided one away, not saying one single word.

Seeing that the long haired blond was walking away, Walker allowed himself to relax somewhat and turned to help his angel. However, he was not prepared for the look of utter hated that had etched itself onto Dorothy's face.

"Dorothy?" he asked, uncertain as to what could be the cause of such a look on his beautiful angel.

That seemed to be a catalyst for whatever was simmering in the blonde's body. She was up on her feet in the blink of an eye and a second later was shoving Walker out of her way as proceeded on another death march. A hurt expression on his face, Walker followed after her.

Heedless of her surroundings, she only stopped when she was mere feet away from the two long haired teens. "How could you?!" she nearly shrieked at the long haired blond.

Not expecting to hear from the girl so soon, Solo turned to look at her. "How could I what?" he asked.

"How can you stand to be around that disgusting faggot?!" she snarled.

Solo's face was contorting in anger as his fists clenched, ready to pummel the blonde girl into a bloody piece of meat, the only thing stopping him being the braided teen next to him who held onto his hand desperately.

"What does he have to offer you anyway?" Dorothy continued mercilessly. "He can't, that's what. Why can't you pay attention to other, more deserving people? I've been here since your first day; I've been kind, I've been nice, I've changed the way I look, I've done everything that I could to get you to just look at me and you just keep on ignoring me anyway! Can't you see that there are plenty of other girls around here who would kill just to have you look at them just once?!"

"And I'm not interested in any of them," Solo snapped while squeezing Duo's hand reassuringly. "Is it against the law or something for me to choose who I like or who I want my friends to be? If there is, this is the first I have ever heard about it. Besides, you already have a boyfriend."

"Fuck him!" Dorothy snarled. "Do you really think I could settle down with a grade-A wuss like him?! He means nothing to me! You're the only person that I have ever truly wanted, needed even! Why can't you give me a chance?"

"Perhaps you have already forgotten but I know I told you this once," Solo said with scorn. "I don't date sluts and you fit into that category perfectly. Leave me alone."

Whatever tenuous control Dorothy had now broke and she launched herself at him, her fingers curled and ready to use her nails as claws. However, she wasn't able to reach the target of her rage as Quatre came out of nowhere and grabbed one her wrists while delivering an audible slap to her cheek.

Her anger managing to prevent shock from settling in, she turned her sights to the smaller of the two Winners. "What was that for, you little bastard?!" she hissed.

Quatre's normally passionate eyes hardened and he gave her an uncharacteristic glare, something that managed to make her pause.

"Lay one hand on my cousin or my best friend and you're going to regret ever laying eyes on them Dorothy Catalonia," Quatre warned, making no attempt to cover the steel in his voice.

Everything was frozen; no one had ever expected to hear anything like that ever come out of the mouth of this particular Winner boy. He was always so kind, considerate. To see him now was like seeing a complete stranger. Dorothy couldn't get her mouth to move to even speak one word.

The deadly look on Quatre's face soon morphed into an utterly wicked one. "I wouldn't want to be in your shoes, Dorothy. It looks like your night is about to get even longer."

He spun her around, leaving her to ponder on those words for but a second before she realized what he had meant. Standing a few feet behind her was none other than Walker. Walker had a hurt look of betrayal on his face; tears were beginning to leak from his eyes, threatening to come crashing out like a flood.

"I loved you…" Walker began, obviously heartbroken. He had finally seen Solo's claim in action and heard it from her very own lips. "…How could you…do this to me?" he asked.

Dorothy found she couldn't say a thing. Never had she ever been caught up in this position before. There was no way she could ignore the hurt look on the teen's face like she had to countless others before him. Quatre made sure she couldn't turn away by holding onto her shoulders and forcing her to remain.

"How can you be so cruel?" Walker continued. "After everything I've done…everything I've given up…just for you, just to show you how much you mean to me, to show you how much I loved you!" Now that he was getting into it, Walker couldn't keep the words from pouring out. "Why did you use me? Why?! How could you do that? Don't you have any feelings?"

Silence reigned, no one made a move. The drama was not close to finished yet.

"If I mean nothing to you," Walker began to wind down. "If that is how you truly feel, then it's over between us. I'm breaking up with you Dorothy. It's over…"

Dorothy felt her whole world shatter. Yet, she was so focused on herself that she didn't see Walker turn and run, his tears finally breaking through their dam.

She had nothing now.

Nothing.

--

Solo hadn't bothered to remain in the gym. This night had not gone the way he had thought it would. He had never intended to get caught up in some overrated teen drama and to drag Duo into it.

Perhaps Duo had had the right idea in staying home after all.

Nonetheless, he told Quatre that he and Duo were out of there and that he needed to know if Quatre was going to be coming back to the house.

Getting the affirmative and letting his cousin vanish off to find his boyfriend, Solo led Duo back to his car. The braided one was so quiet that it was unnerving him. He hadn't spoken a word until he had opened the passenger door.

"So much for having a good time, huh?" he said, his violet eyes lifting to look directly into his green ones.

He couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Let's blow this joint," he replied. "I think our welcome has kinda been flushed down the crapper, hasn't it?"

"Yeah…" Duo sighed as he got in. Before he could close the door, however, Duo added, "Just get us back safely and in one piece, okay Tree Trunk? The last thing we need is to get into a wreck and ruin your precious baby, huh?"

His mood lightened slightly, he could only shake his head as he closed the car door.

--

Though things had definitely calmed down since the little show, Wufei still found himself without companionship.

Was it his scowl that was warding people away from him? Probably, but he didn't care. He had enjoyed and even reveled in watching that little rat get his just desserts only to see the taller Winner come to his defense.

Still, Dorothy had nothing now, just like he did. However, he wouldn't go to her side, no way, no how.

He just didn't like her, end of story.

So here he was, all alone in the midst of a homecoming dance. Perhaps he should leave. He could do better things than just stand around here all night.

He still needed to pay back Maxwell for everything he had done to him.

--

Though the air of the night was cool, it did nothing to help soothe Walker as he let all his emotions spill from the mask of masculinity that all men were forced to wear.

How could this have happened? How could Dorothy betray him like this? He had never believed all the rumors and gossips about her and had been ecstatic when she agreed to go out with him and become his girlfriend. But now having heard what she really thought about him and that she had been openly flirting with that new guy…at least he could see the new guy had balls in refusing her.

How could he have been so blind? How could he have not seen that she was just using him as a fuck toy and meant nothing else than that? He had never had such a bad judge of character such as that.

And of all the nights for this to happen! It was Homecoming, damn it! Sure it wasn't as important as Prom but it was still one of the highlights of senior year. But it had happened and here he was mourning his loss instead of being like everybody else and partying all night long.

"She didn't deserve you," a soft voice came from behind him.

Snapping his head around, furious at himself for letting anybody catch him like this, he was surprised to see Relena Peacecraft standing there, looking at him with concern. What was she doing here anyway? Shouldn't she be hounding Heero up at the hospital or something?

Not saying anything, Relena seemed to take his silence as an invitation and she sat down next to him. For the next few minutes, neither of them said anything just content with each other company, though Walker wouldn't admit it.

"I know what it's like," Relena began, breaking the silence. "I know what it's like to find out that the person you love is not who you thought they were."

That admission surprised the brokenhearted jock. What could this girl be talking about?

"For a long time, I was in love with Heero," Relena continued and Walker barely managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Seriously, was Heero the only thing she talked about? "I thought that he was perfect, the greatest thing to have even been born. However, I learned one day that he wasn't perfect, that he had another side to him, an ugly and disgusting side."

Walker jerked his head to stare at Relena. Never in all his life would he, or anyone else for that matter, believe that Relena Peacecraft, the ditzy, Heero-obsessed blonde, would ever say anything bad about the one and only Heero Yuy.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I found out from Heero's own admission that he was a bully," Relena answered. "He beat up one of our fellow classmates and left him in a restroom without remorse. I figured that if he did it once, he had done it again, perhaps many more times than I care to count. He was also extremely rude to me when he admitted this but I refused to let him walk all over me like he had done in the past."

"What did you do?" Walker asked softly, really interested in what the girl had to say.

"I dumped the contents of a flower vase into his face and told him I was moving on."

Walker had to admit, the girl had guts since she literally (and physically) didn't have balls but still, there was one question lingering on his mind. "What does this have to do with me?"

"I've always known that Dorothy was promiscuous in her relationships," Relena explained. "I noticed how she treated you and how she just used you. You were too good for her I guess is what I want to say. If you need someone to talk to, just let me know, okay?"

Walker could only blink at the words and he was barely aware that Relena had gotten up to leave. Coming back to himself, he suddenly asked, "Would you like to stay with me for awhile, go to my house?"

Relena looked at him before letting a small smile out. "Is that what you want?"

"I would very much like to," he admitted. "I'd like to get to know you a bit better."

Her smile widening, Relena replied, "I would like that too."

--

Solo sighed as he walked down the hallway towards the guestrooms. He didn't really feel like doing anything for the rest of the night and had already taken the liberty of removing his tux coat, tie, and shoes. However, he needed to tell his uncle what had happened to cause both him and Duo to come back early and what Quatre's plans for the weekend were.

Uncle Raberba wasn't happy at hearing about some of the things he did and let him off with a warning but also warned that should he get into any more trouble, there would be hell to pay.

So he was on thin ice. Not much of a difference from back home except that the disciplinarian here had the teeth to back up his bark. What a mess he was in…

As he passed Duo's room, he heard the braided one call for him. Curious about what prompted the unusual call, he turned back and entered the room of his boyfriend. Folding his arms over his chest and looking at the squeamish teen who sat on his bed, looking nervous and devoid of everything except for his dress shirt, pants, and socks, Solo waited to hear what Duo wanted.

"Sorry about what happened at the dance," Duo uttered, his eyes averted.

Solo rolled his eyes. "Look, none of it was your fault," he explained. "I should have done something earlier to make it clear that I had no interest in that bitch. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine and it's hers."

"It's not just that," Duo sighed.

"What is it then?" Solo asked patiently.

"I know that you wanted to do more at that dance," Duo said. "We only got one dance in."

"You think that's important?" Solo inquired, wondering where Duo was going with this.

At the sight of Duo's light blush, Solo knew something was definitely up. "I was wondering if you'd like to…you know…have another dance?"

Now he was a bit confused. "Huh?"

Standing up, Duo made his way over to the stereo system and pressed a button. Soft music began to pour from the speakers and finally Solo understood. He couldn't help but chuckle. Duo was certainly one of a kind. He uncrossed his arms and crossed the distance between him and Duo, his arms wrapping strategically around the braided one and led him out to the uncluttered center of the bedroom.

He barely recognized the song and the band but if he was to take a guess, he assumed it was Our Lady Peace. It sounded like one of their more softer and gentler songs and it oddly felt like it fit the occasion. Slowly, he began rocking his body and led his braided significant other in a slow dance, reveling as Duo rested his head against his chest and let him lead.

By the doorway, Raberba Winner caught the sight and allowed himself to indulge in it. From where he stood, he could see the sight of Duo's relaxed face and he couldn't bring himself to interrupt the moment. As the two teens continued, he marveled at the transformation that had occurred. Now that he could see Solomon's face, he wondered if perhaps he should reconsider what he had been about to do.

He had been ready to inform his nephew of what was going on, why exactly he had been sent here and how close he was to loosing everything. Yet, he found he didn't have the heart to do it. Perhaps there was ample reason why his nephew had done the things he had tonight if the sight before him indicated anything. Backing away to give the two teens privacy, he allowed himself to be gracious this one time and give Solomon another chance before bringing the hammer down closer.

He was really becoming soft, he just knew it.

Meanwhile, Solo let himself take deep breath and take in the rich scent that was purely Duo. He could hear Duo's soft voice from below breathe out, "_…the mystery's gone…so bring back the sun…we'll bury this hate…we'll build it with love…_"

It was enchanting, calming. The blond could feel all the negative emotions that had built up inside of him all night drain out and leave him content for once in his life. Lowering his head enough, he let his lips brush against the braided one's forehead, planting a light kiss on the expanse of skin as Duo leaned his head back just enough to allow him better access.

His cheek nuzzled the soft hair on Duo's hair and he let out a relieved sigh.

"…_mystery's gone…the mystery is gone…mystery's gone…_"

If Solo had ever believed in magic, he knew that he could agree to this.

This night was certainly magical.


	29. To Sir with Erotica

Author's Note: As a gift for all you yaoi obsessed fangirls out there who just happen to be reading this, this a gift for you. If you are uncomfortable with the subject of this chapter, leave, press the back button, and wait for the next installment. But if this is your thing, then sit back and stay awhile, not my place to judge anybody. So, without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: yaoi, lemon

To Sir with Erotica

With the scent of Duo clouding all his senses, Solo could only think that this is what heaven must feel like. Well, if this was heaven, then perhaps what happened next would take him all the way up to cloud nine.

As Duo remained enfolded in Solo's grasp, his heart was pounding within his chest. He had not ever in his wildest dreams begun to think that he could ever be in this position. Now that he had a taste, he wanted something more, something that he was sure that only Solo could give to him at this point in time. Since Solo wasn't making the first move, Duo guessed that he would have to.

So he kissed him.

Solo didn't know when it began but he was pleasantly surprised nonetheless. As soon as Duo began to pull away, Solo dived down for more, capturing the smaller teen's lips gently, tightening the hold he had on his braided victim. As his tongue invaded Duo's mouth, Duo's hands were clenching onto anything they could grab a hold of, namely Solo himself. Not that the blond didn't mind or anything since he was concentrating on more enjoyable activities.

But soon they started getting desperate. Hormones were released and demanded that their bodies receive some sort of satisfaction. Duo may not have been their slave but Solo certainly was as he pulled the braided one off his feet and held him closer, Duo's feet wrapping around the blond's waist to get some leverage.

Pulling away, Solo gasped out, "You want to?"

Being new to this and all, Duo had no clue what Solo meant and voiced his confusion.

Instead of grinning perversely like Duo would have assumed he would, Solo smiled gently and leaned closer so that he was able to whisper in his ear. Duo's eyes widened and he bit his lip in indecision. Did he really want to take it that far when he had only known this guy for such a short time?

Solo kissed the side of his neck lightly to calm the braided one down as he murmured, "You don't have to want to do anything if you don't want to but if you do, then all you have to do is tell me to stop and I will…"

The ball was firmly in his court now but he was still a bit uneasy. This was a big step they were talking about, and he didn't want to stop halfway. Those little pecks on his neck were really making it hard to concentrate, especially when the blond began to suck lightly and leave hickeys in his wake. Damn it, he wanted more! Plus, he wanted to know if what Quatre and Trowa did behind closed doors was really as enjoyable as they made it out to be and Solo here had told him of all his experience so the guy knew what he was doing.

But would he be a different person afterwards? Was it going to be worth going through with something like this? Then again, what was the alternative?

Well, he guessed that settled that question.

"Okay," he whispered. "Can you be…gentle?"

Smiling like a megawatt bulb at him, Solo replied, "Anything you want."

--

The rest of the night had been a bit subdued at the dance; not that Quatre minded. It gave him and Trowa a bit of quality time, especially when the lights dimmed and it was time for the slow dance. Now they were back at the mansion, Quatre ready to bestow another session of lovemaking with his unibanged prize.

He was a bit concerned when they passed Duo's room but found the door wide open and no one inside. He must be with Solo, the blond decided. After this evening's events, that would be the most likely place he would find his friend. He wasn't about to go and interrupt any kind of quality time the two might be having so he went straight towards his own room with Trowa in tow.

Tonight was going to be special.

--

It was a rare occasion indeed whenever Duo found himself in Solo's room but this was where the blond had carried him, setting him on his bed while the taller teen continued to stand and look at him with that gentle smile of his while stroking his hair.

"You are just so cute," Solo commented as he leaned down to brush his lips against Duo's forehead.

"Is that all you have to say?" Duo jested, attempting to hide his nervousness.

It seemed that was all in vain as Solo said, "No need to be nervous Duo. I'll take real good care of you. All you have to do is relax and enjoy."

"Okay," Duo swallowed. "So what do we do first?"

"Didn't I just tell you to relax?" Solo murmured as his fingers began to deftly unbutton the braided one's shirt. "I'm going to take care of you now, so don't worry about a thing. We can do this."

Duo gulped but said nothing, his eyes focused trustingly on the taller teen.

Solo caught the open look and he knew absolutely that he wouldn't betray it. It would be like kicking a puppy or something if he did so and that was just not right.

Gently, he pushed Duo's dress shirt back and revealed the creamy skin that covered the braided one's body. He sat down on the bed next to Duo and lowered his head to Duo's shoulder so that he could begin to give that area some of his personal attention, planting light butterfly kisses all over it and moving on up towards the neck.

Feeling a light tugging on his shirt, he nearly smirked and whispered, "Go ahead, don't be afraid." That seemed to be the right thing to say as he felt his shirt loosen with each freed button until he shrugged the shirt off, his upper body finally out on display for all to see.

Until now, Duo had not had the good opportunity to get a good look at Solo's natural body. The closest he could get was that little spar they had some time ago but now he could see the well-built torso and the muscles that the blond had refined over the years. He couldn't help but let his hands explore the strong body in front of him, marveling at how soft it was despite the fact that it had been proven that this was all tough.

This time Solo allowed a smirk out, even as pushed Duo gently back and further onto the bed, removing Duo's shirt completely as he did so. Now that Duo's upper body was completely bare and at his mercy, he leaned down and began to manipulate all the areas he could touch to drive his braided captive mad. And mad Duo was as he squirmed beneath the blond, his breathing now heavier as he was assaulted with the sensations that were bestowed on his defenseless body.

Stopping in his ministrations, Solo grinned down at him and asked, "So what do you think about it?"

Leveling a glare at the blond, Duo could only let out a whine to voice his displeasure.

Chuckling, Solo said, "Yeah, that's what I thought you would say." Hands settling on Duo's waist, Solo's thumbs began to fiddle with the hemp of the braided one's pants teasingly, much to Duo's puzzlement. Seeing the look that was now being thrown at him, Solo chuckled goodheartedly. "You are so naïve," he teased. Letting his thumbs drift upward to stroke the skin, he continued, "But that's something I like about you. Now, would you like to move forward or do you want to stay where we're at right now?"

"Move forward?" Duo managed to gasp out. "You mean it gets better?"

"Oh yeah it does," Solo answered, "but you have to decide if you want to go any further. Remember, no pressure."

Pfft, as if there was any other option.

"Take one wild guess what I want you to do," Duo growled.

"You don't want to go any further?" Solo guessed.

"Guess again," Duo muttered audibly.

Chuckling darkly, Solo grinded his hips lightly into Duo's, muffling Duo's gasp of surprise with a hungry kiss. Continuing to grind, Solo asked predatorily, "Are you sure?"

"Just do it already!" Duo pleaded, his hands trying to find some sort of purchase on the blond's body.

"As you wish," Solo purred, a hand snaking out to undo Duo's pants and slowly begin to push them down.

For some reason unknown to Duo, it was quite relieving when his pants were removed. Glancing down, he guessed that it probably had to do with that tent that had sprung up in his boxers. Even that piece of cloth was confining. As he thrusted his hips up, Solo commented, "Eager aren't we?"

It was barely a second later when he had rid Duo of all his clothing, with the exception of his socks, his eyes lavishly examining the nude body of the smaller teen. Damn, he looked so scrumptious that he could eat him alive!

"What about you?" Duo whimpered. "Aren't you going to…?"

"Don't worry your pretty little braid off," Solo teased as he began to work on his own lower garments. "If you want them off, then off they come."

Damn it, Solo had a wonderful physique. What the hell was he doing hiding it with all that clothing that he wore? And what the hell was that?! Was that Solo's…? Damn he was blessed! As Solo slipped back on top of him, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the socks that Solo still wore. Now that he thought about it, he still had his socks on too…

"You forgot the socks," he pointed out.

"I get cold feet," Solo shrugged as one of his hands casually removed itself from view.

"Cold feet?" Duo repeated.

"Why are you so concerned about my feet all of a sudden?" Solo growled. Feeling something grip onto his manhood, Duo froze automatically until he felt the warm thing gripping him begin to pump. "You need to stop thinking with that head of yours," Solo continued, "and start thinking with _this_ head." He gave a rather firm pump on that one and Duo could only squirm and yip out as the pleasurable sensations he was feeling overloaded his body.

Jesus tap-dancing Christ…

"Yeah, that's right," Solo purred before gently seizing his lips for a light kiss. "That's right. You're in good hands now. Nothing to worry about."

At this point, he wasn't paying attention as he felt a pressure grow in his abdomen. Oh God, he was close…so close…

Then Solo had the gall to stop. However, before Duo could shoot a death glare at the blond, he felt something hot and wet envelop him and once again his mind scrambled. His hands fisted the bed sheets and he gasped for as much air as he could. He had never felt such sensations as _powerful_ as this before and—holy shit! Was it even _legal_ to be _that_ good with your tongue?

He felt like he was going to explode! He wasn't sure if he was going to be able to hold it all anymore. The pressure then uncoiled like a snake and he suddenly felt it rush down to his loins. A flash of white scrambled his mind as he felt the pressure drain away, orgasm overpowering all his senses.

Solo was quick to catch on when Duo's body suddenly tense, thus was ready for what came out. As the braided one came, his back arching as he did so, Solo drank the fluids up greedily, increasing his suction as he did so to get every last drop that he could. When the smaller teen's limp body collapsed onto the bed, Solo let the flaccid organ out of his mouth and crawled up so that he was resting comfortably on the braided one's body.

He noticed with satisfaction that beads of sweat covered Duo's forehead and Duo eyes were clenched tightly as he panted, recovering from his latest experience.

Cupping Duo's cheek with his hand and stroking with his thumb, he commented, "You look like you enjoyed that." Licking his lips, his green eyes gleamed as Duo nodded his head in agreement, his eyes still clenched tightly and panting as hard as ever.

Solo couldn't deny that Duo looked gorgeous as he lied on top of him. His own arousal twitched but his strong willpower managed to keep it in check. There was no sense in rushing anything and he wanted his braided captive to enjoy _everything_. That meant waiting patiently as Duo sought to recover. That didn't mean that the blond couldn't do anything as he bided his time.

So, in an effort to bring Duo back to a state of calm, he began to lightly kiss Duo's neck lightly, occasionally licking and sucking on the sweat drenched skin. He kept an eye out, observing Duo as the teen slowly calmed down and fell into a relaxed state. Halting his work, he hovered his head over the teen, hands sensually stroking the smaller body.

"So, you think you can go on for one last round?" he quizzed, his eyes not leaving the glowing face of Duo Maxwell.

"You mean there's more?" Duo blurted out.

"Of course," Solo teased, lightly pecking his lips. "The only question is do you want more?"

Wrapping his arms around Solo's torso, Duo squeezed him and replied, "Yeah, I want more. Give me all you got."

"I don't think you're ready for everything I can show you," Solo commented, "But don't think I'm done with you yet. I got a few things up my sleeve that I think you are going to like. A lot."

"Then prove it," Duo challenged.

--

So what was he going to do?

That was the question that now plagued Raberba Winner's mind.

He couldn't lie that his nephew had grown on him. From what behavior he had heard the young man had shown before coming here, he had improved quite a bit. Yet he had told his younger brother that Solomon was hanging by a thread at this point. When had this thing gotten so complicated?

He knew the answer to that one. Duo Maxwell. He didn't begrudge the young man; in fact he actually enjoyed him. He was almost like a son in a way and it was despicable how his life had gone. Allah knew the boy needed a break and he wouldn't change his mind about boarding him here. Plus, he seemed to have a positive affect on Solomon as well, something that added more brownie points to Duo's repertoire.

Still, Duo was at the center of what had happened this evening. Solo had resorted to bestowing violence on a young girl while trying to protect the braided youth. This was something that could not be allowed to go unpunished. But then he had caught the two dancing in Duo's assigned room and he couldn't break the two up.

Not even he was that cruel to do such a thing.

All that led up to where he was now. He was going to have to do something. Maybe he could just wait until he saw Solomon again. By that time, he ought to have come up with some sort of punishment.

A beeping sound interrupted his musings and he looked towards his fax machine. Seeing sheet after sheet of printed paper come out, he reached over and snagged the few papers that had come out and began to look at them.

His impassive face soon grew into a frown with every word that he read. It seemed something bigger was on the horizon, for them all.

What in the world could _he_ possibly want? What was so important that he had to meet one of _his_ representatives anyway? The proposal popped back into his head and he groaned aloud. His time was just as important as theirs, if not more so. Things were about to get real difficult here.

Sigh, this was exactly what he needed…

--

Sweet Jesus, Duo was so _tight_!

Solo groaned as he slowly pushed himself further into the braided one, reveling in the tight velvet heat that surrounded him. He wanted more than anything to shove himself deeper but restrained himself from doing so. Duo was definitely not used to this, despite the preparation done just seconds beforehand, and the braided one's eyes were clenched tightly as his hands gripped the bed sheets with an iron grip.

Fully seating himself to the hilt, he panted he buried his face into the nook of Duo's neck. It was taking all of his fraying control to not pound the braided one into the mattress and every second that passed brought that reality even closer.

"Solo?" Duo whimpered beneath him. "Is it suppose…to be like this?"

Solo kissed him hungrily before answering. "Yeah, but you should be getting used to it. Just tell me when you are, okay?"

"Can't you do something to take my mind off of it?" Duo pleaded.

Unable to resist, Solo smiled down at him, sweat beading on his brow. "Sure thing. Whatever you need."

His hand snaked downwards to Duo's renewed hardness and he began to stroke it all the while keeping the rest of his body as still as he could. He could feel Duo's tense body begin to relax a bit and he took the initiative in pulling out and slowly thrusting back into that glorious heat. Hot damn, it was so sweet!

Duo groaned and wrapped his arms around Solo again, pressing him up against his smaller frame as if his life depended on it. Rolling his hips back, he thrusted back in gently, keeping up the slow pace as he propped himself on his elbows and lower arms in order to capture Duo's mouth for a heated kissing session.

As Duo's fingers dug into his back, Duo moaned, "Go faster…Solo…please…"

"Please, huh?" Solo purred as he gave a particularly hard thrust, striking a particular spot in the braided one.

Duo cried out loud and Solo felt a wetness between the two. As Duo continued to gasp for air and recover, Solo continued with his gentle but slowly speeding-up rhythm, not letting up for a minute. Hearing Duo groan again, Solo was mildly surprised that he was recovering a bit quicker than before.

When he felt Duo remove one of his hands to try and squeeze it between them, Solo grabbed both of Duo's arms, maneuvering his hands so that he grasped the wrists and pinned them above Duo's head, all the while not letting up, his pace quickening.

"Solo!" Duo pleaded.

"Uh uh," Solo grunted. "I'm not through with you. Not yet… Just a little longer…"

"Oh…God…" Duo moaned as he stretched his neck out and rolled his head on the pillow beneath it.

Striking that spot that made Duo cry out again, Solo got down to business as he adjusted himself so that he hit that spot more frequently. He could feel himself get closer and closer… He just…needed…to…damn it…he was still so _tight_!

Releasing Duo's pinned arms, he wrapped one arm around the braided one and the other lowered downward to begin pumping Duo's hardened self one more time as he felt himself get closer and closer…

Duo tensed beneath him and the wetness between them grew as more was added. It was enough to finally trigger his own release and with a cry, Solo erupted at long last.

Struck with a white flash of heat, he finally reached magnificent completion.


	30. Waking Up with a Sore

Author's Note: By now, you've all have found out that I've upped the rating on this baby. That's right, it's rated M from now on. I hope you were all satisfied with last chapter, just be prepared for a more relaxed chapter this time around but don't get too comfy. Got a turbulent ride up ahead. On a lighter note, how about some more enthusiasm with my little poll? June 30th is the last day before I close it down and thus far, a remake of "The Deathdealer" is assured. So c'mon, it won't take long to answer a yes-or-no question. I want to see what y'all think.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Waking Up With a Sore…

Her life was ruined! Last night had been the worst of her life! She had been publicly refused by the star of her fantasies, been dumped by her current boy toy, and abandoned by all her friends.

As she ran through the hallways of her home, intent on reaching the one person that she knew who could fix this, Dorothy felt the hot flame of rage fill her to the core. She wasn't going to take this! She was going to make things the way they should be! Her grandfather would make sure of that, just as he had time and again before.

Barging into her grandfather's study, she cried out for the old man, receiving his attention from where he sat behind his enormous oak desk, his musings cut short because of her sudden interruption.

"Yes, what is it Dorothy?" the old man grounded irritably. It really did look like he was in the middle of something but at the moment, she could have cared less since this was more important.

"Grandfather!" she cried out. "I need your help!"

"And what do you need?"

"My boyfriend dumped me!" she wailed. "My friends don't want to have anything to do with me, and it's all the fault of this mean boy at school!"

"What do you want me to possibly do about it?" her grandfather asked, annoyed. "Get you another boyfriend?"

"Could you?" she asked, desperately.

"Depends on who it is," her grandfather replied. "Just tell me who it is and I'll see what I can do."

"His name is Solo Winner," Dorothy started eagerly before being interrupted.

"Winner? Is this Solo related to Raber—I mean Quatre Winner?"

"He's his cousin," Dorothy answered, curious as to what her grandfather was thinking.

"I'll see what I can do about him," her grandfather finally said carefully. "Now, tell me about this mean boy you spoke of."

"His name is Duo Maxwell," Dorothy spat. "He's the one responsible for making my boyfriend break up with me and he's also keeping me away from gaining the affections of Solo."

"Did you say 'Maxwell?'" her grandfather asked suddenly.

"Yes, that's his last name," Dorothy answered, unsure of where the old man was going with this.

"What is this Maxwell's relationship to this specific Winner that you speak of?"

"How do you mean?" Dorothy asked, undeniably confused.

"Are they friends? Acquaintances? I need more details Dorothy."

"I guess you could say they are friends," Dorothy answered uneasily.

Her grandfather remained silent for quite a bit, unnerving the girl with each passing minute. What was he thinking of?

Finally, her grandfather spoke up. "I'm sorry Dorothy, but I am not able to help you out with your latest situation. I'm busy with something more important right now so please, do not disturb me unless it is really important."

Dorothy could not believe this. Her problem wasn't important?

"But Grandfather!" she pleaded.

"Enough Dorothy!" the old man snapped. "I have no time for this petty nonsense. I am a busy man and I have more important work to deal with. Now leave me be!"

Holding her tears in until she exited her grandfather's study, she fled back to her room.

Meanwhile, Durban Jefferson Dermail was still considering what he had just been told by his granddaughter. The cogs in his head were turning and a plan was being developed. Yes, yes, this might…no, it would work!

Mr. Romafellor would definitely be pleased with this. All he had to do was iron out the details and then put it into motion.

And he had Dorothy to thank for this.

--

As Duo's violet eyes cracked open to welcome in the brand new day, they immediately clamped shut as soon as any sort of dim light reached them. There was no way he was going to be getting up from where he was anytime soon.

He was nice and toasty right where he was and he would be damned if he moved an inch from where he laid. It wasn't every day where he found himself in a bed, wrapped up in the tight embrace of a handsome young man, and positively glowing from the previous night's activities, you know.

Now that he recalled last night, he suddenly came to conclusion that his ass hurt.

That hadn't happened since the time he fell down the stairs at his apartment.

And no, he won't get into detail about it.

But that was neither here nor there. What was here was him being kept comfortably warm by another completely nude body that was like a fucking furnace and he couldn't help but snuggle closer to it. If only he could have done this sooner.

Wait, there was a downside that he noticed. Despite how much fun last night was, the results of their coupling remained on them and was quite dry. Eww… Now how was he going to clean this crap off?

"Morning," a deep voice purred in his ear. He had been so focused on the dry mess between their bodies that he hadn't noticed that his bedmate had returned from the land of unconsciousness and had a very contented smile on his face.

"Someone sounds happy," Duo commented as he raised his head up.

"And why wouldn't I be?" Solo queried as his embrace around the braided one tightened.

In answer, Duo leaned in and pecked him on the lips.

"I like that answer," Solo sighed happily as he nuzzled the braided one's hair.

"So now what?" Duo asked as soon as he managed to gather up enough of himself.

"Hm?"

"You know, what do we do from here on in?"

"There are a few things I can think of," Solo said slyly.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," Duo stated blandly. "I'm being serious here."

"So am I."

"You're impossible," Duo sighed.

"And you wouldn't have me any other way."

"Let's start with something more basic," Duo began. "How about we get up and have some breakfast or something?"

"I have an idea. Why don't we go into the shower and I can have you for breakfast there, then at lunch I have you in that chair over there, then I have you for dinner on the floor, and finally for desert I have you in this bed?"

"Is sex really going to be the only thing that we're going to be doing?" Duo sighed. It wasn't as if he didn't like. That would be further from the truth. It just was he didn't think he could spend the rest of his life with a sore ass.

"Nah, I was just teasing," Solo jested. "Don't think that that's all we're gonna be doing. You got me now and you're stuck with me. However, I was serious about the shower."

"You still want to do me in there?"

"No, I was just thinking we should clean up. Man, I resent your dirty thoughts!"

Duo blushed hotly and crushed his face into Solo's chest to hide it.

"Then after we're cleaned, I was thinking about having breakfast in bed," Solo continued, blithely unaware of Duo's blush. "What do you think about that?"

"Sounds good," Duo answered. Solo really seemed sincere about this…

"Then lets get to it!" Solo chirped as he slid out from the covers, pulling Duo with him. Before the braided one could do anything, Solo held him bridal style against him, marching over to the private bath.

"What do you think you're…?" Duo demanded.

"I still want to clean up with ya," Solo replied. "Course, I was thinking more like taking a bath than a shower. What do you think?"

--

Leaving Duo to rest in his bedroom, Solo walked casually down to the kitchen in only a robe. Hey, it was better than being butt-naked and he didn't feel like getting dressed today anyway.

Everything seemed so much brighter this morning and he had a real good idea what was the cause of _that_. Now, what was he going to cook up to bring up to his little braided lover boy? Deciding that some fresh, crisp flapjacks were the best way to go, he sent his order in to the kitchen and waited impatiently for it to be prepared.

Pfft, as if _he_ was going to be the one to _cook_ it. Just because he had to take a Home Ec. class did not mean he was going to be using any of that crap anyway.

As he waited for his order, he was joined by a robed Quatre who looked very bright this morning as well. The smaller blond took only one look at him and nodded knowingly as he came to stand right next to the taller male.

"Have a good night?" Quatre inquired.

"You bet," Solo answered, a grin forming at the memories of last night.

"You think Duo liked it?" Quatre asked next.

"Oh yeah," Solo answered, his grin growing even wider.

"So what are you up to now?"

"Breakfast, Q, breakfast in bed to tell the truth. I'm just waiting for it to come out."

"Have anything planned for today?"

"Not really; just going to play by ear. I think I'll let Duo decide what we do."

"Are you feeling all right?" Quatre asked in concern.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You usually don't let Duo decide anything. You just do the things yourself and force Duo along for the ride."

"Hey, I don't do that all the time!"

A simple look from Quatre spoke better than anything he could have actually said.

"Okay, you might have a point," Solo admitted sheepishly.

"Might?"

Fortunately for Solo, the pancakes were finished and brought out to him. "Well look at the time! Mustn't keep Duo waiting," Solo scrambled as he made as hasty exit as he could, Quatre's amused look following after him all the way.

--

Having breakfast in bed was actually a first for Duo and it was something he was determined to repeat again and again. He couldn't really pinpoint what it was about the activity that he liked. Maybe it was because he was reclining in a nice, soft, comfortable bed as he ate? Or maybe it was because Solo insisted on feeding him himself? Regardless, he found both activities pleasurable.

So, he was now just lying in the bed, waiting for Solo to return from taking the dirty dishes back down to the kitchen or wherever it was he had to take the them. He was having one of those moments where he had no energy to do much of anything except lie around and think, though he wasn't doing much of the latter.

He could honestly say that at the moment, life was perfect.

As if things couldn't get any better, Solo finally made his reappearance, closing and locking the bedroom door behind him as he made his way to the bed. He freed himself of his robe and slipped in under the covers that were definitely still soiled from last night, sliding over until their bodies were once more next to each other.

Ah, now _this_ was the life.

"Never knew you could be so cuddly," Solo commented wryly as he felt the braided one snuggle into him.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Duo mumbled, shutting his eyes contently.

"Would you like to change that?" Solo asked.

"Not right now, don't feel like it."

Solo cracked a smile as he watched the braided one indulgently. "Feeling lazy or something?"

"Yeah or it just may be the fact my ass is still sore."

"Oh, so you're not too lazy to make a witty comeback, huh?"

In reply, Duo shifted his body and straddled the blond, all the while never losing skin contact. Solo lightly wound his arms around the small body and waited patiently for the braided one's response. Feeling the arms draped lightly around him, Duo allowed himself to just use the blond as one large body pillow. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the side of his head ended up resting on Solo's chest, just over the blond's beating heart. The heartbeat was setting a rhythm that was lulling the braided one into a dazed stupor.

It just seemed like life was just getting better and better…

Not feeling up to just laying there and doing nothing, Solo wove Duo's braid around his hand and arm, ultimately resting his hand on top of Duo's head and instigating a light petting session that seemed to make Duo just melt into him.

Solo just couldn't get enough of this guy!

"So," Solo growled into Duo's ear, "you think you're up to doing something? You know, something _fun_?"

"My ass' still sore," Duo mumbled into Solo's chest.

"I can make that all better," Solo purred.

"And if I say no?"

"Then I won't do anything."

Blinking sleepily up at Solo, Duo acquiesced with a nod and a contented smile. To tell the truth, he was kinda looking forward to what the blond had in store for him and if last night was anything to judge by, he could expect to be on the receiving end of such…

Hello…ooh yeah, that was it…


	31. Back for an Encore

Author's Note: Kinda early, huh? Don't get used to it. Even I'm surprised that I'm updating this early. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Back for an Encore

"Are you sure you know how to get there?" a short haired girl whined from the backseat of the small, ratty-looking car. "Maybe we should stop for directions."

"Yes I know where we're going," the male driver of the car grumbled, "and no, we don't need to stop for directions! Isn't that right Alex?"

The male in the passenger seat named Alex who held the road map sideways answered, "Yeah, I know exactly where we are going!"

"If that's so, then why are you holding the map the wrong way?" asked the only other person, a girl, in the backseat.

"Alex!" the driver shrieked.

"Oops," Alex squeaked, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Great, this is just great!" the driver ranted.

"So, does this mean we're going to have to go back?" Alex asked, embarrassed at his screw up.

"Like Hell we're turning back!" the driver spat. "We've come too far! We're going to make that asshole sorry about putting us through this! I mean, how hard is it to give us one lousy call?! Honestly!"

"I think you're taking this a bit too far," warned the short haired girl. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Not a big deal?!"

"Now you've done it," muttered the other girl.

The three passengers all groaned in sync as the driver launched into yet another one of his infamous rants, the piece of crap car continuing on its way.

--

"I don't wanna get up!" Duo whined, sounding awfully like a little kid who didn't want to get up for school. Wouldn't you know it that they were under the same circumstances since the weekend (both Saturday and Sunday for that matter) had passed all too quickly for both the teens' sakes?

"C'mon! We don't have a choice in the matter!" Solo argued as he stood beside the bed, glaring down at the smaller teen. "Do you know what Uncle will do to us if we don't have a good excuse for not going to school today?"

"Tell him we're both sick," Duo mumbled into his pillow. "Tell him we got some contagious disease over the weekend or something and we got to stay here today."

"Don't make me pick you up, Short Stuff," Solo threatened.

"Don't make me have to kill you, Tree Trunk," Duo shot back.

"I can hear the church bells already," Solo sighed. "I'm giving you one last chance Short Stuff. Either we can do this the easy way or the hard way and let me tell you that the hard way involves a pair of handcuffs, ice cold water, and a sponge."

Ten minutes later, the two of them were trudging down the stairs, perfectly dry. Duo had no clue if Solo had really meant the threat but he wasn't going to stick around to find out since he had learned many a time that Solo usually kept his word no matter how ridiculous he might sound.

Entering the dining room, the two were greeted by the sight of their other two friends. While Trowa looked nonchalant, Quatre was giving them both a knowing look, one complete with a wide smile.

"We didn't see you all weekend," Quatre groused as the two long haired teens sat down at the table. "You two didn't happen to be doing anything you shouldn't have been doing, have you?"

"Don't pretend that you're innocent," Duo shot back as he dug into his breakfast. "Compared to what you two, we kept it on a more civil level, unlike two kinky bastards that I could name if I was provoked."

"So how do you feel now that your cherry's been popped?" asked Trowa who didn't change his demeanor in any way, sounding matter-of-factly.

He received three looks of surprise, which were shrugged off a few seconds later.

"Didn't know you had a filthy mouth," Duo commented. "Perhaps Quatre should wash your mouth out or something."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Trowa replied, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"Still, Quatre, you better have some soap on you the next time he comes out with that kind of stuff," Duo advised.

"I'll keep that in mind," Quatre said wryly. "However, you didn't answer Trowa's question and it's rude not to answer when you're asked something."

"You think it's any of your business?" Solo intervened.

"And whose house is this?" Quatre countered. "I deserve to know what goes on under _my_ roof."

"He's got me there," Solo conceded to Duo.

"First of all, this isn't _your_ house," Duo stated.

"Of course it is! I live here!" Quatre argued.

"While it's true you live here, it's also true that your dad owns the place, not you," Duo replied. "So, it's actually _his_ house, not yours."

"He has you there," Trowa commented.

In answer, all Quatre did was fold his arms and pout, unable to come up with a decent comeback.

"Don't mess with the best!" Duo chirped as he dug back into his breakfast, all of it drenched in his favorite condiment: maple syrup.

--

Upon entering school that morning, Duo had a noticeable bounce in his step. Or maybe he was treading carefully because his ass was still a bit sore… Regardless, he had never felt better on this fine day.

Solo seemed amused by this but kept an arm or hand on him at all times, as if the limb was a leash. Personally, the braided one didn't really mind since it gave him a sense of security whenever he caught an occasional glare being leveled at him by a member of the opposite sex, jealous that he had hooked and reeled in the big one.

He would have to agree with them, Solo was quite the catch, if he let you catch him that is.

Despite the covert hostility that was directed towards him, there was no incident that could have caused the braided one's smile to turn into a frown. Hell, even taking a seat in their first period and waiting for the bell to ring couldn't put a damper on his spirits that morning.

However, the sight of Dorothy Catalonia coming in just as the bell rang did put him under a little unease. That girl did not look good. She must have had one shitty weekend or something. He especially didn't like the glare that she threw at him, a look that would have been lethal had it been an actual weapon. Solo came to his rescue and sent her his own glare as his body tensed, just waiting to be unleashed upon the blonde girl if she made one single wrong move. She quickly averted her gaze and tried to shrink down into her seat as soon as she sat down.

He felt so much safer already…

Still, one shouldn't turn their back on Dorothy Catalonia. That bitch was a conniver. Plus she was a girl; they rarely struck out in the open.

--

Heero's triumphant return to school wasn't as glorious as he thought it would have been. As he hobbled up to the building, having to make great use of the crutches that he had received upon leaving the hospital, all he got were sympathetic looks of pity and the occasional "how you doing?"

What seemed to be the center of all the gossip around him was what had happened at Homecoming. Something big occurred and all he knew was that it involved Dorothy Catalonia somehow.

Now that just pissed him off. Here he was, the school's best quarterback to have ever set foot onto the field, back from being hospitalized and no one was clamoring around him.

Then, as if to add insult to injury, he caught sight of Relena, his former stalker. The girl was not paying him mind, instead focusing it all on his "back-up." And the second-rate player was actually returning affections with her! What the hell was Relena doing with that loser Walker? Wasn't that guy going out with Dorothy? This was all fucked up here.

He could feel the fires of jealousy burn through his veins and he had the sudden urge to strangle or even mangle the average-skilled jock. He had to remind himself that this was all Duo Maxwell's doing. He was the source of all this change, of that he was sure.

What reason would his only friend, Wufei, have to lie to him? The little faggot needed to be put back in his place again but he was in less than perfect condition. So how was he going to do this? He'd have to discuss this with Wufei. His friend could make a plan that could accommodate his current condition.

Yeah, that's what he would do.

--

Normally, Dorothy would have been in class like a good, responsible, little girl. However, she was too pissed off and furious at the situation to do such a thing, instead opting to hang out at the back of the school where the pothead losers usually went to enjoy a joint or three.

She was only glad that there was no one else out here so that she could be alone for once.

Her life was falling apart. She had no boyfriend, the one she wanted didn't want to have anything to do with her, her friends were giving her wide breadth for some reason, and her grandfather had refused to do anything to fix this mess. The world was a dark and lonely place and she couldn't help but feel despair try to swallow her up in her misery.

"If it isn't Dorothy Catalonia, what brings you out here?"

She snapped around to glare daggers at the person who dared to intrude into her thoughts. She was not in the mood for company of any kind right now.

Greeting her was the smug Chang Wufei who had an air about him that seemed he was just barely tolerating her presence. Hmph! Let him be that way. She was here first and if he didn't like it, tough.

"Your presence here might be a good thing. Yes, I think I can make something of this…"

Though it was suppose to be said quietly, Dorothy was able to hear each word uttered from the Chinese and was immediately confused. What was he talking about?

Deciding to let her confusion be known to her unwanted companion, she demanded, "What is that suppose to mean?!"

Wufei blinked, surprised that she had heard him. Couldn't be helped now…

"What's _she_ doing here?" a new voice demanded.

Turning around again, Dorothy met up with the sight of Heero Yuy, fresh from the hospital and being supported by crutches. Now this was an odd development.

"I think we may have another compatriot," Wufei told the ex-quarterback. "Here is someone who has also suffered as we have. I believe we might be able to come to an agreement of setting aside our differences this one time and join forces against a mutual foe…"

"What are you talking about?" Dorothy inquired, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"He means we've all been fucked over by Duo Maxwell," Heero stated bluntly. "I don't know what he's thinking but I think he's willing to team us up so that we can take that little faggot down once and for all."

"Very blunt Heero, but yes, you are correct," Wufei acknowledged. "All three of us have been ruined by that rat in some form or fashion. I say we put aside our differences and combine forces. That way, it'll be much more satisfying when Maxwell gets what's coming to him. Who knows, with Maxwell out of the way, you may have a better chance of claiming Solo Winner as your next toy."

That certainly perked up Dorothy's attention. Needless to say, she was not over Solo yet and was willing to do _anything_ to get the blond god to be hers. Perhaps this partnership wouldn't be such a bad idea, especially if she could get rid of the twerp and get the man of her dreams…

"You make an interesting proposition," Dorothy acknowledged. "I accept. Now, what do you have planned?"

"Oh, you're just going to _love_ this," Wufei purred, smiling maliciously.

--

"This is much better," chirped the short haired girl having now gained possession of the driver's seat. The other girl in the car sat in the passenger's seat, holding the map the right way while the two males in the car had to suffer in the back seat.

"I swear, it's all a conspiracy," muttered the ex-driver angrily. "Those corporate jack-offs know what we're up to and they've corrupted all these country folk into delaying us. This is something those greedy bastards would do."

"I don't think they'd go that far," commented Alex, hoping to steer the other male's rant to a more interesting conversation.

"Yeah, I mean, it was Alex who had the map," commented the girl in the passenger seat, "and you were the one that was driving badly anyway."

"I'm a great driver!" the offended male defended. "It's just the government messing with my mind today with the radio waves! Would you turn that damn thing off!"

"Nope," chirped the short haired girl. "I like this song!"

"They've gotten to you too," grumbled the male as he slumped down in his seat.

"You are too paranoid, you know that?" stated the other girl. "Now, please be quiet; I'm trying to read this map."

"So navigator! Where do we go now?" asked the short haired girl.

The other girl studied the map with puzzlement before pointing in a direction. "That way."

"That way we go!" cheered the short haired girl as she turned onto the first road she came to.

"Women drivers," the ex-driver grumbled. "Now we'll never get there."


	32. Blasts from the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Blasts from the Past

Dermail peered over his clasped hands at the man that sat across from him, studying the man's features with utmost scrutiny.

"Do you know the reason why I have called you here?" Dermail finally began after a long, drawn out silence.

"It has something to do with the Winner proposal?" the gruff voice answered, guessing.

"You are correct," Dermail confirmed. "This matter is extremely delicate and I need someone experienced and good at the kind of work we're going to be needing. Mr. Romafellor wants this deal to go through without a hitch and has put me in charge of the majority of this proposal. However, I can't be everywhere at once and I need to lighten the load a bit. That's where you come in."

"What is it that you need me to do?"

"Should Winner agree to negotiations, I want you to meet with the head of WEI and settle the deal. Do whatever you need to do to get this deal to pass and I assure you, you will not only be greatly compensated for your work but more than likely be promoted to being part of the Executive Board," Dermail explained.

"That's very generous of you," said the man in awe.

"You should actually be thanking Mr. Romafellor," replied Dermail. "However, you must remember that first you need to settle this deal and no foul ups either. Do you understand?"

"Crystal clear," answered the man. "You can be assured that I will not fail."

"You better not," Dermail warned. "Otherwise, there will be some…consequences that you will not enjoy."

--

"It's too quiet," remarked Howard without warning.

His startled secretary jumped at the sudden sound. "What do you mean Howard?" she asked.

"We've never gone this long without hearing anything from the asshole," Howard clarified. "We usually get something ever couple days or so and we've practically have gone a week without anything. Something's up, I can feel it."

"Are you sure you're not borrowing any trouble?" the secretary asked dubiously. She couldn't help but like the "quiet" as Howard put it since she didn't have to do as much paperwork. Still, even she was willing to do anything to help out Helen's son. She owed her friend that much.

"I wish I was," Howard replied. "But I know that this is too fishy. There's only been two times when we've had a quiet spell like this and it's usually when that asshole's boss is up to something. The man actually canceled a court date and he never does that unless something's up."

"Couldn't it just be that he's getting tired?"

"If he had been getting tired, he would have stopped doing this a long time ago. No, he's being told to hold off for awhile while something else is in the works."

"And how does this concern us?" asked the secretary.

"It might mean something, it might not," Howard answered. "Still, I'm not going to be turning my back on this. He'll be back, that's the one constant in this world that I can rely on."

--

"I don't believe this," gasped the male in the backseat.

"We're here!" chirped the short haired girl as his eyes sparkled at the sight of the school building.

"So, Mueller, what was that about women drivers?" teased the girl in the passenger seat.

"I give up!" cried the now-named Mueller melodramatically.

"So what do we do now?" asked Alex, paying no mind to his friend's antics.

"Well, if our shitty clock is right, we wait for school to let out," answered the girl in the passenger's seat dryly.

As if on cue, a loud siren sounded from the building, signaling the end of classes and for the students within to haul ass out of there.

"I love it when you do that!" squealed the short haired girl.

"Alright, this is it!" Mueller declared as he punched a fist into his left hand. "Time to give that asshole a piece of our minds!"

--

Having braved the long day of school, Duo was more than ready to just get back to the Winner's mansion and lay down. The girls of this school just couldn't seem to accept the fact that he was going out with Solo and had approached the blond with countless declarations of love and such while throwing glares at him.

Needless to say, Solo turned them all down while he doted on him. How the guy managed to get through the day without looking exasperated was a mystery to the braided one and he made a note to himself on asking Solo how he did such a thing.

As they exited the school building, Duo caught sight of a few looks of longing from a few of the lingering girls. It seemed that Solo also noticed and brought him closer, his arm back on its favorite roost. That was more than enough to comfort Duo and he allowed himself to be escorted away from the school grounds once again, like he had so many times before.

However, something must have been odd or something because Solo suddenly halted, his arm tensing on his shoulders.

Needless to say, Duo was confused to no end on this sudden change in behavior. Attempting to follow Solo's locked gaze, he spotted a rust bucket of a car just across the street from them, four people hanging around the automobile.

Now, Duo had been going to this school all his life and he had never seen those four before but from the way Solo was staring at them, Duo guessed that he had an idea about who they were. Before he could ask what was going on though, the four had crossed the street, obviously heading straight for Solo with a single minded purpose. What that purpose was, Duo had no idea, but he could see that one of the four did not look happy, at all.

It was this disgruntled fellow that actually got the first word when he called out, "Solo you asshole! You don't call, you don't write, and to think we were worried about you!"

"Bullshit!" Solo snorted automatically. "I don't know about the other three, but you sure as hell weren't worried Mueller!"

To say that Duo was shocked was an understatement.

"Do you know those guys?" he asked the blond.

A friendly grin had appeared on the blond's face, something that Duo hadn't ever seen before as he answered, "Yeah, they're my old friends from before I moved in at my uncle's."

The thought that Solo had actually had friends before coming here had never crossed Duo's mind before. Then again, Solo never talked about them either. Still, it only went to show how little he actually knew about the guy.

"Hey, who's the pipsqueak?" Mueller asked as soon as he was mere feet away from the couple.

Five seconds later, Mueller was flat on his back with an impressive dirt imprint of a shoe on his chest.

"Still as stupid as ever," Solo chuckled as he pulled a steamed Duo back towards him.

"That was quite impressive," commented one of the girls, a blonde from the looks of it. It seemed as if she didn't give a care as to the condition of her fallen friend, literally stepping on the stunned guy and approaching Duo. "Do you think you could teach me how to do that?"

"Damn it, you're one of them, aren't you?!" the fallen Mueller accused as he glared up at Duo. "You're one of those government assassins, aren't you?"

"Mueller, he ain't an assassin and he ain't with the government," Solo sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"So, he's always like this?" Duo asked, eyeing Mueller warily.

"All the time," answered the taller blond male who had bent down to help pick up Mueller.

"Traitor!" Mueller cried.

"Some things never change," Solo stated.

"Yeah, like you not answering my questions!" snapped Mueller.

"I hate to admit it but he does have a point," the blonde girl said. "So, who is your friend there?"

"Oh yeah," Solo said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry about that. Anyway, this here is Duo."

"Don't tell me the introductions are only one way," Duo said dryly. "They now know who I am but I don't know who they are."

"Hold your horses," Solo grumbled. "The girl in front of ya is Sylvia, the guy you floored is Mueller, the guy next to him is Alex, and the other girl is Hilde."

"Hilde?" Duo started.

"Yep, that's my name, don't wear it out!" chirped the short haired girl now known as Hilde. Hilde stared at Duo cheerfully before her face scrunched up in thought. "You know, you look awfully familiar."

By now, Duo was trying to hide himself behind Solo, his eyes wider than usual and full of fear.

Hilde then snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! I remember you!" she said loudly. "You're Duo! Duo Maxwell! Long time no see!"

"You know each other?" Solo asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at the cowering Duo.

"You remember that girl that Quatre tried to set me up with, the one we all thought was a guy?" Duo whispered so that only Solo could hear. The blond nodded. "Well, that girl was…"

"Oh my God!" Solo chortled as he burst out laughing.

"Huh? What's so funny?" Hilde asked, tilting her head in puzzlement.

"Is it true that you went out with Duo?" Solo managed to ask through his amusement.

'Uh huh," Hilde confirmed. "Why?"

"So then it's true that Duo thought you were a guy?"

"I was surprised by that too!" Hilde cried, her voice laced with memories. "I couldn't believe he thought I was a guy! It was so cute when he found out I was a girl!"

"You know, now that I think about it, you kinda do look like a guy," Alex said.

"Yeah, it was such a shame that Duo was gay," Hilde sighed. "He was quite a catch, let me tell you that."

"He's right here," Solo pointed out as he stepped to a side, revealing the terrified Duo.

"DUO!" Hilde screamed as she launched herself at the braided one. Duo could only meep in fear as he found himself being enveloped in a bear hug that threatened to crush his ribs and suffocate him. "It's great to see you again!" Hilde exclaimed. "My, I think you got shorter," the girl commented as she released him.

The only thing that kept Duo from committing first degree homicide was the fact that he was still recovering from his glomp attack. At least, that was the reason Duo used to justify why he didn't attack.

"Be careful with him!" Solo chided as he pulled Duo up against him. "You're going to break him if you keep doing stuff like that."

"Sorry about that," Hilde apologized sheepishly. "I just haven't seen him in a long time, that's all."

"Okay, okay, okay, enough with the sappy reunions," Mueller cut in. Turning to Solo, the dark skinned youth gave the blond a stern look. "You have some explaining to do, Solo. Why the hell haven't you talked with us? Are you better than us or something? Is it because we're all common folk, is that it?"

"Shut it Mueller," Sylvia interrupted. "But he has a point," she continued as she steered the conversation back to Solo, "You haven't called or talked with us for quite some time. What is your excuse?"

"I've been busy!" Solo defended.

"Doing what?" Sylvia inquired.

"Butting into my life," Duo answered. "The guy has barely left me alone for two weeks already."

"Hey, you liked every moment of it!" Solo exclaimed. "And is that the way you talk to your boyfriend anyways?"

"_Boyfriend_?!" shrieked Mueller.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Hilde squealed. "That's so adorable!"

Everybody stopped what they were doing to give the short haired girl a look before shrugging and resuming their conversation.

"Fangirlish squeal aside, what prompted this?" asked Sylvia.

"What can I say, he's like a fungus. He grew on me," Solo answered as he squeezed the braided one.

"So you're finally settling down, eh," Sylvia stated. "Well, at least he's better than the Sandstorm Ballet Team."

"You mean you're _gay_?!" Mueller squeaked. He was ignored.

"You have to let me take your picture!" Hilde squealed.

"Maybe some other time," Solo said, becoming really wary of the girl. He had to admit, the girl could creep him out sometimes.

"Damn it, will you people listen to me for one minute!" Mueller erupted, capturing all of their attentions. Resuming his previous outraged stance, he began again, "You can't be serious, you're gay?!"

"Bisexual to tell the truth but I rather like this guy right here," Solo replied as he snuggled against Duo's captive form.

"You're willing to just give it everything to be with that puny boy there?" Mueller exclaimed.

It was barely a second later that Solo instinctively released Duo and backed up, ready to intercept any blows that might come from the braided one.

Instead, Duo just simply walked up to Mueller and gave him a cheery smile. Then he kneed him in the pins.

The braided one returned to the tall blond's side, leaving the now collapsed Mueller to scream silently as he writhed in painful agony.

Oblivious to his friend's critical state, it was Alex that spoke up next. "I don't see anything wrong with that," he shrugged. "If you like him so much, good for you."

"Thanks Alex," Solo said, smiling slightly.

"No prob," the teen answered.

By that time, Quatre and Trowa had arrived, the former eyeing the four strangers suspiciously while Trowa continued to remain impassive.

"Are these friends of yours Solo?" the smaller blond asked, directing everyone's (except for Mueller, that poor schmuck) towards him. "You know it's rude not to give introductions."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Solo huffed, waving the matter away before pointing to each of his four friends. "Alex, Mueller, Sylvia, Hilde. Guys, this is Quatre, my cousin. Go easy on him."

"Hi Quatre!" Hilde exclaimed. "You've really grown! It's been awhile hasn't it?"

"Oh, hello Hilde," Quatre replied, his cheeks reddening in embarrassment, most likely having to do with remembering a past incident. "I didn't know you knew Solo…"

"I met him after I moved away!" the girl chirped. "So how have you been? Think you can set me up with somebody again? You know, someone short and with a braid?"

Duo unobtrusively and unconsciously stood up onto his tippy toes, hoping to appear taller than he was while moving behind Solo.

"I'll see what I can do," Quatre murmured uneasily.

"Hey! New kid!"

"My, aren't I the popular guy today," Solo grumbled to himself as he turned his head in the direction of the new voice.

His eyes easily caught on to the sight of Walker who was casually making his way towards him, gesturing at him to come over. Relena Peacecraft was at his side, a fair expression on her face as she walked daintily next to the jock.

"Better see what he wants," Solo sighed as he began to make his way over to the couple, dragging Duo behind him all the while.


	33. Divulging Solo's Past

Author's Note: Another quick update. Whoopie. Just one final notice, the poll ends on June 30th. You want your opinion known, time is running out. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai, drug use

Divulging Solo's Past

Solo had no idea what was going on.

Truer words have never been said.

First, his old friends from back home come here and now he was being called out by that guy, whatshisface, you know, the guy who dated that slut with the eyebrows.

Suffice to say, he had no idea what was going on.

That wasn't the sad part. The sad part was that he wasn't high.

Oh well, at least he had Duo at his side, even though he was dragging the little guy behind him like a child with a rag doll or favorite toy. Oddly enough, Duo wasn't objecting to such treatment so the blond could only assume that either: A.) Duo was sick or B.) he was doing something right.

"What's up?" he greeted the guy (Walker! That was that guy's name!) as he stopped in front of him and the pink girl whose name he had also forgotten.

"I guess you've already forgotten," Walker jested, hands casually settled in his pockets.

Solo frowned. "Forgot what?"

"I recall making a date for a fight last week," Walker hinted.

Solo's face scrunched up in thought before finally making the connection. "Oh yeah, that's right! You mean you still want to go through with it? If you are, then I'm game."

Walker chuckled. "Naw, I'm alright. I just wanted to say sorry for how I acted. You were completely right about Dorothy and I just refused to believe it. I was acting like a jerk to ya and I shouldn't have."

"I guess the dance kinda put things in perspective, huh?" Solo stated.

"Yeah, it did," Walker admitted, bowing his head slightly. "I never thought that…"

He stopped as Relena put her hand on shoulder, gently squeezing reassuringly. "That's all in the past now," she said gently. "You need to put it behind you."

"You an item or something?"

Having not spoken the entire time, the question Duo raised had resulted in the other, taller three looking down at him surprised.

"I guess you could say that," Walker answered, resting his hand on Relena's. "We hooked up at the dance, believe it or not."

"Good for you, good for you both," Solo congratulated as he stretched out his hand. "I hope it works out for you both."

"You think we could be friends?" Walker asked, taking and shaking the offered appendage.

"Yeah, I think we can be _Amigos_," Solo replied. "You know, now that you aren't threatening me to my face, you seem like a pretty nice guy."

"What can I say; things change," Walker shrugged before sending an appreciative look at Relena.

"Well, we'll just leave you two lovebirds alone and let ya get to know each other," Solo said, excusing both himself and Duo. "See ya guys around."

As they headed back, Duo commented, "That was pretty nice of you. I would have never thought I'd see the day."

"Goes to show I'm more than you think I am," Solo stated proudly.

As soon as the duo returned to their previous business, that being Solo's old friends, Mueller grumbled, "So what was that all about?"

"Just some business I needed to settle," Solo answered.

"We're losing him," Mueller muttered under his breath.

"Wait, didn't you have a fight with Walker today?" Quatre recalled.

"It's canceled," Solo explained. "The reason for fighting was taken out at the dance last week."

"Dance? You went to a dance?" Mueller exclaimed.

"Yeah, I did, want to make something out of it?" Solo growled warningly.

"Just ignore Mueller," Sylvia interrupted. "However, he does have a point. Since when did you start going to school functions anyway? You didn't use to go before so what caused the turnabout?"

"Hey, I just felt like going, is that a crime?" Solo defended.

"You sure? Or was it the pussy you would have gotten out of it?" Sylvia commented.

Duo stilled next to the blond. Something about that comment didn't sit right with him.

"As if," Solo continued, blithely unaware of Duo's reaction. "No pussy is worth going to something like that."

"So it was a piece of ass, wasn't it?" Sylvia accused. "So who was it you boned?"

"That's none of your damn business," Solo hissed.

"That never stopped you before."

"Why don't you all just shut up and go to Hell," Duo suddenly snapped. "I'm out of here. See you guys at the house." Giving none of them the chance to respond or do anything, Duo roughly pulled himself away from Solo and shoved himself through the newly arrived quadruple.

"That was a bit rude," Sylvia commented as soon as the braided one was out of sight.

"Maybe it was because you were being rude yourself," Solo snapped.

"And when have you ever cared about that before?" Sylvia shot back.

"Yeah, since when have you ever cared what she said?" Mueller demanded. "Don't tell me you've finally conformed to their rules."

"Why don't you just shut up for once?" Hilde cut in, glaring at her two friends.

Mueller and Sylvia could only stare at the short haired girl, Mueller in shock and surprise and Sylvia in bemusement.

"Just leave him alone," added Alex. "It's none of our business and he has the right not to say anything."

That certainly surprised the rest of them. Solo gaped only for a few seconds before smiling gratefully at Alex. Hilde was also grateful since she felt more comfortable when one of her friends was backing her up. This time, Sylvia was surprised, not expecting such an action from the teen. Mueller was completely stupefied; there just weren't any other words that could describe the dark skinned teen.

"Thanks Alex, Hilde," Solo said, giving the two mentioned teens a small smile as he started after Duo. It didn't go past him that both Quatre and Trowa were also missing but they weren't what was important right now.

Hunting down Duo was.

--

If there was to be one thing that could be said about Duo, it was that he didn't lie. He may omit or refuse to say something but he didn't lie. Thus, that allowed Solo to conclude that Duo would be going straight to the mansion. If he wasn't there, then he would be there later and Solo would be waiting for him.

Luckily, when he came in through the front door, Quatre was there to nonverbally tell him that Duo was indeed in the mansion. Now, that only left one thing for him to do: hunt the braided one down and find out what was on that mind of his.

After flinging his school stuff into his room, he headed straight to Duo's room to check if the braided one was there. He was. And he was seated on his bed, looking straight at him as if expecting him.

Now either he was getting predictable or something big was up.

Hmm, now which one was the lesser of the two evils?

"It's about time," Duo said aloud, patting the spot on the bed next to him, telling the blond that he had to come into the lion's den. Despite everything the blond had done in his life, both the legal and the illegal stuff, Solo found that he was actually nervous about going in there and facing Duo. The way those violet eyes were boring into him did nothing to alleviate the anxiety that was slowly building up inside of him.

Since he had no choice, he entered the room, closing the door behind him at Duo's silent command. He sat down on the bed next to Duo without a word and waited for what was to happen next.

Finally, after what seemed to be a lifetime of silence, Duo spoke up. "You know, I realized something today."

Saying nothing, Solo waited for Duo to continue.

Taking the silent cue, Duo continued. "I don't know much about you," he stated. "Despite how long we've known each other, what our relationship is to one another, I don't have a damn clue as to you who were before we even met. Your friends definitely put that into perspective for me."

"What do you want me to say?" Solo inquired, keeping a calm tone. "You've never asked and I've never found reason to tell you. So, is that the only reason why you're saying this?"

"I know more about your uncle than I do you," Duo countered. "Hell, I know more about _Wufei_ and _Heero_ than I do you and they hate my guts."

"So what do you want, my life story?" Solo demanded.

"I just want to know that you trust me," Duo answered. "I've trusted you in telling you a bit about myself but you haven't even said a word about you. A relationship is a two-way street, Solomon."

"And how's telling you about myself going to help anything?" Solo demanded. "What purpose would it serve?"

"I don't know," Duo replied, "but at least it will be a start. After hearing what your friends said, I'd at least like to know if you're sincere, if you're not just with me because of the sex. Can't you give me that?"

"I thought I had proved that that wasn't the case," Solo grounded out. "You think I would have done all the stuff I have just because of a booty call? Why the hell do you think I would put that asshole Heero in the hospital, take you to the nurse, hell, take you to a damn Homecoming Dance and slapping the shit out of a blonde slut? Do you really think so little of me?"

"Actions may speak louder than words but sometimes words have more meaning and depth, Solomon," Duo said. "I don't want to know all the details of your life, like when you stopped wetting the bed or your first day at school. All I want to know are the basics, that's it. I haven't gotten this far in my life by just trusting people blindly, you know."

Solo sighed. "You're not going to like any of it."

"Try me. I've heard worse."

"If you insist. Did you know that I stayed in jail for two days because I got caught spraying graffiti on my old school?"

"You're a convict?"

"No, I was left there by my dad to teach me a lesson. I was a juvenile; I never went to the big house. I've done drugs, I've gotten into fights, I've done it all, even set fire to an abandoned building once and burned it to the ground."

"So you're an arsonist?"

"I guess you could say that; I've done a lot of shit in my life and I always had those guys at my side, Hilde not being there for most of it. Sylvia is the only other person in that group who comes from a rich family, the Noventas to be precise."

"So she's the black sheep, huh?"

"Yeah, just like me. Anyway, Alex is lower middle class and Mueller is dirt poor and has all these conspiracy theories that the government and big business is out to get him or some shit like that.

"I went along with them because I had money and nothing to do with it. I did everything that a teenager does in four years at the age of fifteen. Yeah, that's when I had a lot of sex and became damn near addicted to it. At sixteen, I got into an orgy with the Sandstorm Ballet."

"I already know about that. Damn, what the hell was going through your head?"

"Nothing, I guess. Maybe that's why I hung out with those guys in the first place."

"I'm going to have to agree with that."

"Yeah, yeah, poke holes in my self-esteem why don't ya? Anyway, other than all that, I got into a lot of fights and just made an ass of myself at school. I knew the principal's office by heart by the time I was fourteen and was suspended five times before I became a sophomore. Almost got expelled earlier this year and then I was sent here. I guess that kinda wraps things up."

"So let me get this straight. That whole 'bad boy' act wasn't an act? You are, or should I say were, just like most of the assholes I've had to grow up with? What happened to make you change so much?"

"As sappy as it sounds, it was you. You just acted like yourself and didn't put up with any of the bullshit I put you through and you kinda put a lot of things in perspective for me. I got the chance to see what I could end up with and that it was just dumb luck that I have a rich family. Honest to God truth."

"You're right, that does sound sappy."

"Truth's the truth."

"So," Duo began, "you said you did drugs. What did you do?"

"A lot of it. Cocaine, heroin, weed, LSD, ecstasy, all that kind of stuff."

"Haven't seen you do any of that stuff yet. You go cold turkey or something?"

"Had a bad trip once; scared the piss out of me. Plus, except for the weed, it just wasn't worth it."

"'Except for the weed?' Don't tell me you still do that stuff."

"Damn right I do. Brought some with me when I moved in and hid it so my uncle wouldn't find it. Would you believe it that I hadn't touched it once and it's already gone missing?"

"Missing? You think someone took it?"

"Bet your ass someone took it. It was some good stuff too!"

--

Trowa breathed out a long string of smoke. "Where'd you find this stuff, Quat?" he asked, passing the joint he held over to the blond.

"I found it under a chair cushion in one of the guestrooms," the blond answered as he took another hit. "It was just sitting there and I couldn't resist. Do you feel hungry?"

"No, but this stuff is kicking my ass," Trowa replied, before bursting out into a fit of giggles.

--

"It's a shame; I paid good money for that stuff too," Solo mused as he reclined onto the bed.

"Damn, you're nothing at all what I thought you were," Duo commented, staring at a wall in contemplation.

"Well, what do you want me to say? I'm not Quatre," Solo stated. "I kinda feel sorry for the guy; growing up with all those sisters, I'm not surprised he turned out gay."

"You have a point," Duo acknowledged, sighing. Now was the time to go in for the kill. "So, can you answer one last thing for me?"

"Shoot."

"What am I?" Duo asked, looking straight down at the blond. "Am I just a piece of ass, are you just using me?"

"Duo," Solo sighed. Extending an arm, his hand lightly grabbed the end of Duo's braid and gently tugged on it. Without resistance, Duo let himself fall back onto the bed where Solo gathered him up and held him against his body. "I'm going to say this once so shut up and listen.

"You are not just some piece of ass to me. You aren't a booty call, you aren't just some living blow-up doll that I can fuck whenever I want to. Believe it or not, I really do care about you. It hurts when you doubt me. It really does. I hate it when you're hurt, when you're down, when somebody disses or upsets you. From the moment you told me about your dad, I've just wanted nothing more than to beat the living shit out of him.

"You are the only person who has made me feel like this. I may not know everything about you right now but I'll tell you this: I would willingly give up my life to save yours. I know I haven't said so in these words but…

"…I really do love you Duo. I really do."

Duo remained silent but for a moment before saying, "You know, you really got sappy there at the end."

"And you are ruining the moment," Solo retorted.

"That's me in a nutshell," Duo replied as he snuggled into Solo's torso.

Solo bit his lip as silence reigned. Finally, after a few minutes, he broke it. "Duo? Do you…?"

"Do I what?"

"Do you…feel the same way?"

"You mean, do I love you too?" Duo inquired, tilting his head up to look at Solo's face. "Yeah, you can say that. Just, don't expect me to say it out loud. I still have a lot of shit I need to deal with first. Would you wait though?"

Solo smiled gently. "Of course. I'd do anything for you, Short Stuff."

"Thank you for understanding," Duo said, leaning in to place a kiss on Solo's lips.

Solo felt his heart flutter but only held Duo tighter. He could wait. For Duo, his Duo, he'd do anything.


	34. Conspiracies, They're Everywhere!

Author's Note: As a warning, this is my shortest chapter to date in this fic. Hey, we all have our slow days, eh? Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Conspiracies, They're Everywhere!

Wufei's fingers flew over the keyboard as he checked out program after program, searching for something, something that he could use. Currently, he had struck a goldmine, finding loads of information on one Solomon Winner.

Hacking through a school district's mainframe was child's play if you knew how to do it right but it wasn't his school's computer system that he had cracked. On his screen was all the data he could have ever wanted on one Solomon Ezekiel Winner from kindergarten to the 11th grade. Twelve years worth of information that the Chinese could undoubtedly use against his foe.

Picking up the phone and dialing a number, he spoke the moment someone picked up.

"Chang here. I've found some interesting dirt that we can use. I'm sending it to you now."

--

Waking up that morning and heading to school was quite uneventful for those of the Winner household.

What was out of the ordinary was when Solo spotted a rust bucket of a car parked across the street from the school and groaned, knowing who exactly was in the car. Looks like it was going to take more than one reunion to get those guys off his back it seemed.

Just exactly how he wanted to start the day off too.

Duo said nothing to the sight, instead opting to pat him consolingly on the shoulder and lead the blond, for once, to the school building. It was going to be a _long_ day, Solo could feel it in his bones.

He didn't know if it was paranoia or not but he could've sworn to himself that he kept catching glances of Dorothy, and sometimes Wufei, just watching him with calculating eyes. At first, he could have dismissed such concerns except for the fact he kept catching them in the act. It was more than enough to send chills up his spine. Not wanting to worry Duo with it, he kept silent and put up his usual nonchalant façade, even as he continued to allow the braided one to lead him to the first class by the hand.

If Duo noticed that he was off or hiding something, he gave no hint that he did.

So there he was, just sitting down in his first class, minding his own business when the first confirmation he got that something was up came in. On any other occasion, he would have ignored Dorothy as she entered the classroom but he swore that he could feel her eyes on him and when he looked up and caught her eye, she winked at him suggestively.

Now what was up with that? Just yesterday, she was broken over what had happened at the Homecoming Dance and now she back to acting like the flirt she had been when he first arrived? Either he was getting paranoid or his suspicions were on to something.

"What's on your mind, Tree Trunk?" Duo inquired, giving the blond a questioning look.

"I'll tell you later," Solo muttered back, keeping Dorothy in his peripheral vision.

"You better," Duo warned lightheartedly, turning to look at the front just as the teacher arrived.

At least in second period Solo could relax a bit since none of their "enemies" were in that class. Plus, with the difficulty of the subject matter, Solo had to keep his mind busy as he took notes, occasionally casting a jealous glare at Duo as the braided one took the opportunity to relax.

That guy just had to have an easy time in this class, didn't he? Sigh, some people have all the luck…

In third period, however, his paranoia skyrocketed mainly due to the fact that both Wufei and Heero were in that class. Wufei was always giving him these contemplating looks while Heero alternated between him and Duo, usually giving the braided one a smug smirk, as if he knew something was up. Duo also noticed these looks and began to wonder if Solo's paranoia wasn't unfounded.

So, by lunch, joined by the remaining couple, Solo admitted to his cousin about his…concerns…

"Are you sure you're not just being overly suspicious?" were the first words out of Quatre's mouth.

Before Solo could reply to that, Duo beat him to the punch. "I think Tree Trunk here might have a good reason to be 'overly suspicious.'"

"And why is that Duo?" asked Trowa.

"When have Chang Wufei, Heero Yuy, and Dorothy Catalonia ever sat down and eaten lunch and tolerate each others' presence before?" Duo pointed out, gesturing to a table on the far side of the cafeteria where said teens were grouped.

"Maybe they're all they have?" Trowa suggested in jest, though his voice didn't reflect the implied humor.

"If only it was that simple," Solo muttered.

"Don't you think you might be borrowing trouble?" Quatre asked, skeptical.

"Hey, I don't borrow trouble," Solo retorted. "People just keep on piling it on me. Mark my words, those creeps are up to something. What that is, I have no clue."

--

"So how long are we going to be waiting out here again?" inquired Sylvia as she slumped unladylike in her seat.

"Until school gets out and Solo doesn't have a choice but to spend some time with us," Mueller declared from his reclaimed driver's seat.

"Then why couldn't we go somewhere else and come back half an hour before the final bell instead of waiting out here all day?" Sylvia asked logically.

"Oh what, you have something better to do?" Mueller shot.

"Yeah, I do. It's called lunch. You know, that time of day when people eat something to tide them over until dinner?"

"I'm hungry!" whined Hilde from the backseat.

"You should have thought of that and eaten a big breakfast earlier," Mueller replied.

"But we did have a big breakfast and now I'm hungry again!" Hilde complained. "I bet those kids in there are getting to eat lunch too!"

"She has a point," Sylvia acknowledge, looking pointedly at Mueller.

"Alex! Back me up!" Mueller commanded.

"Sorry, too hungry," Alex apologized.

"Hey! Whose side are you on anyway?" Mueller shouted.

"The winning side," Alex answered.

"And we're the winning side!" Hilde chirped.

"It looks like you're outnumbered and outvoted," Sylvia stated. "Start the damn car and take us to a Wendy's or a McDonald's. We won't be any good if we're all dead from hunger, you know."

"Are you saying you want me to give up some of my hard-earned cash to one of those corporate tycoons just so you can eat?!" Mueller demanded, glaring at the blonde girl.

"No, I'll pay for lunch; you drive," Sylvia replied dryly. "Besides, that isn't your money, it's mine, you just haven't paid it back to me like you promised."

"You're all in on this, aren't you?" Mueller growled darkly.

"If it means food in my tummy, then yes!" Hilde said.

"I'm surrounded by traitors," Mueller muttered as he started up the car.

--

Things were getting complicated at WEI.

Romafellor's proposal was sending everything into an uproar, from the top of the Board of Executives, to the department heads, even down to the janitors and such. This thing was big, extremely big, and at the center of this storm was Raberba Winner.

Endless meetings, constants phone calls and emails, paperwork coming out the wazoo, there just seemed to be no end to it all. And like his father before him, Raberba was doing as much as he could, knowing that he was going to work himself into his grave at this rate.

So, when he got a social call from one of his elder daughters, he decided to take the call and put a halt to all the work that had been building up on his desk, ordering that he wasn't to be disturbed.

It had been refreshing to talk about nonbusiness-related material. Hearing that he was going to be a grandfather in a few months could do that to a person. Still, it was a shame that Quatre, his only son, had turned out to be a homosexual. Like any ordinary parent, he had been a bit upset at the news but had tried to ignore it as well, hoping that the matter would go away. It didn't, so he tried another parental maneuver, the ol' grandchildren and shame act. However, that seemed to leave a bad taste in his mouth. His children's happiness had always been his top priority, something that hadn't been his own father's. Ultimately, an alliance between Quatre and his sisters, along with the support of his own siblings managed to persuade him to leave it alone.

Still, that matter always popped up once in awhile, always leading him to wonder if it had been something he had done to make Quatre become the person he was today. It was good and well for his own brothers and sisters since they had more than one son, a couple only having a girl or two.

As he hung up, he reclined back into his chair as another relative of his popped of in his mind. He knew a lot about the going-ons under his roof, and he wasn't blind. Solomon had definitely taken an intimate interest with Quatre's friend, Duo, and he knew that by now that his nephew had converted the braided lad. When he thought about it, from what he had heard from Ezekiel, Solomon was attracted to both sexes apparently and Ezekiel hadn't a care about it. Maybe that was due to the fact that he had two older children, a boy and a girl, Solomon being the youngest.

Then again, it would just be his luck that his only son would be attracted to men.

Well, he had wasted enough time doing nothing, time to get back to work.

Now, what was he going to do about that representative that Romafellor wanted to send?


	35. Name of the Game

Author's Note: Since July 1, my poll has been officially closed. Not much of a response but I'll take what I can get. Be ready for a revised and remade version of "The Deathdealer" in the coming future. It may not show up this month or the next but it will come out better than ever. As for this chapter, it's been ready for quite a bit but things came up and some procrastination needed to be doing but that is all in the past. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Name of the Game

Under the cover of the cacophony of the cafeteria, three conspirators plotted.

"So what's the plan?" Dorothy asked eagerly.

"Blackmail," Wufei answered calmly and readily.

"Blackmail?" Heero questioned, disappointed.

"That's only the beginning of the plan," Wufei elaborated, hearing the disappointment in his friend's voice. "I did a little research on our _dear_ Solomon—"

"Who's Solomon?" Dorothy interrupted. "I want Solo!"

"Solomon is the full name of Solo," Wufei explained, not at all miffed at being interrupted. "A simple pet name, that's all. Now, back to business, I checked out Solomon's old school records and such and found out that he isn't the golden boy that many people at this school believe him to be. His grades are terrible, he's been nearly expelled on a series of occasions, and that's only the beginning."

"There's more?" Heero asked.

"He has a bit of a criminal record," Wufei said. "It seems like Honest Abe isn't as honest as we all thought."

"So what does that all have to do with anything?" Dorothy demanded.

"From a reliable source, I've managed to get my hands onto a bit of evidence that could put Solomon away behind bars for quite sometime," Wufei replied. "Now, this is where the blackmail comes in. We threaten to turn in the evidence to law enforcement back at his old home unless he breaks up with Maxwell and agrees to get together with you Dorothy. Then to add injury to insult, Heero, you get to have your way with Maxwell one more time. All I ask is that you make sure he doesn't walk again, okay?"

"Understood," Heero smirked as he cracked his knuckles.

"I must say, it's ingenious," Dorothy commented. "I'm in."

"That's perfect," Wufei continued. "We'll wait until tomorrow to approach our subjects of interests. Make them think they're in the clear. The blow will be much harder and it will give us some time to iron out the details and get rid of the bugs. As long as we have the evidence, there is nothing they will do against us. Absolutely nothing."

"This is going to be _fun_," Heero said sadistically before frowning. "What about Walker?"

"All in due time, Heero," Wufei answered. "He's not going anywhere and besides, Maxwell and Solo are more of our pressing concerns."

"Amen to that," Dorothy added.

--

What had once been a long day had become unbelievably longer by the time they came to their History class. Apparently, Ms. Noin had had a date the previous night and it hadn't ended favorably.

Meaning, she was taking out her frustrations on the poor students that made up her classes.

So after getting out of that nightmare of a period, they endured the last period fairly well before the final bell released them from their incarceration. And then the day got even longer as once again, Solo's friends approached them at the school's gates.

To say that Duo was losing his patience today was not far from the truth. In fact, to tell the truth, he blocked out the whole confrontation and just spent it all leaning against Solo, using the blond as a vertical pillow.

It certainly was his luck, wasn't it? Just as soon as things were calming down and a new routine was being set, something just had to come along and upset the balance once again. That had been happening a lot lately, ever since Solo came here. Still, he wouldn't trade that for anything; Solo was just that important to him.

However, as they were in the midst of an escalating argument, Duo was surprised to see Howard pull up in front of the school, his sunglasses lowered so that his eyes were clearly looking straight at the four strange teenagers curiously. Howard's dark eyes soon caught his and he called out to him, gesturing for the braided one to come over.

"What's Howard doing here?" Solo asked, puzzled, as he looked down at the now attentive brunet.

"Don't know," Duo answered, just as confused as the taller blond was. "Better go over and see what he wants. You gonna be okay?"

"I'll be just fine," Solo replied as he tilted Duo's head up so that he could plant a light kiss on his forehead. "Go see what Howard wants."

Duo nodded and reluctantly left the blond's side as he made his way over to the old-age lawyer. "What's up, Howard?" Duo greeted, his world now focused solely on the old man.

"Up for a drive?" Howard asked. "Got something I need to talk with you about."

"Just as long as you drop me off at the Winner's when we're done," Duo agreed as he slid into the passenger seat and closed the door behind him.

--

Solo's concerned green eyes watched the braided one like a hawk as Duo got into the car and left. He could only hope that this wasn't going to be bad news, especially now of all times.

His friends' eyes were all turned back on him expectantly and he sighed.

This was certainly far from over.

--

"So what d'you need to talk about?" Duo asked after some distance had been put between them and the high school.

"Ah straight to the point as always," Howard commented, eyes focused solely on the road. "Lets wait until we get to my apartment to talk."

"Not your office?" Duo asked.

"You should know better," Howard chided. "That place has been bugged so many times that I don't care to clean it out. That's why I'm always coming up to the school to talk with you. It's harder to listen in at a public facility, especially one owned by the government. So, you're getting closer to that Solo guy, huh?"

It was obvious that the old man was purposely changing the subject but Duo didn't call him on it. Instead, he chose to go along with it since it was going to take a while before they got to the apartment.

"Yeah, sure am," he answered, allowing himself to reminisce.

"You sure that guy isn't playing you?" Howard asked.

"Positive. Besides, he wouldn't dare," Duo replied readily. "He'd be hit from so many sides by so many people, not to mention me beating the crap out of him. To tell the truth, I really do like him."

"Enough to exchange public affection?" Howard inquired, his tone teasing.

"Oh yeah," Duo sighed dreamily. "I can't help but let him get away with it. I think I really am falling for him too."

"From the looks of it, you already have and badly," Howard pointed out, letting a small smile out. "Still, make sure you have all your bases checked. The last thing I want to see is you ending up how Helen did."

"Be assured, I won't let that happen," Duo stated firmly. "Even though this thing feels right, I'm making sure I have something to fall back on, just in case. I don't like doing something like that behind Solo's back but I just can't let myself be duped, you know?"

"Crystal clear," Howard said. "I wish Helen had that kind of foresight. Perhaps we may not have to be where we are today."

"I hear that," Duo agreed, settling into the car seat.

A few minutes later, Howard pulled up into a public storage facility. This was the apartment that the old man meant. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that just because his office was bugged that his own home was left alone. No, it was in this storage unit that Howard rented that he spoke of anything that was incredible important and sensitive. And there was also the fact that he stored some of his excess crap here, don't get him wrong.

Entering into the storage unit, the sliding door was lower just enough so that they could have some privacy yet be able to get out when they were done. Taking a seat on a dilapidated couch that had definitely seen better days, Duo gave the old man the sign to get down to business.

"I know you've been wondering why I needed to talk to you," Howard began, "and I'm just going to be blunt. Do you happen to know anything that might be going on with your father? I haven't heard hide nor hair from him or his lawyers and it's making me a little edgy. I've called them trying to make court appointments and everything but it seems like he won't be able to do much of anything until next year at this rate."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Duo asked.

"It might be but your father is usually nosey. For him to be this quiet for this amount of time, something is up and it's big. I'm just wondering if you might be able to help me out and maybe point me in the right direction."

Duo's face was scrunched up in concentration. He had more than idea about what was up; to be honest, he was trying to figure out if it would be okay to tell Howard about what exactly was going on. Taking a single look at the old lawyer and life-long friend, Duo quickly made up his mind.

"I might know but I want you to swear that you'll breathe not a word of this to a single soul, okay?" Duo told him.

"I swear on your mother's grave I will not mention anything to another person," Howard swore.

"Alright," Duo confirmed before lowering his voice slightly. "You know what my father does for a living, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, let's say that his boss sent this proposal over to their one and only rival, WEI. They want to form an international trust and make billions in the process."

"Oh dear Lord," Howard swore.

"That's just only the beginning," Duo continued. "This whole deal is big and it's going to change the face of the global corporate world. The two largest firms untied will control practically all the consumer goods that we use everyday, a large chunk of every country's economy, and dominate every financial institution for the next hundred years."

"There would be nobody to stop them," Howard whispered. "They would control the world."

"That is true and don't think Mr. Winner isn't considering it. I will say this, though, he's real hesitant and Romafellor is going to do everything in its power to make sure that it goes through."

"Jesus, no wonder he won't answer my calls or even call back," Howard spoke aloud.

"He's not calling you back?" Duo repeated, dumbfounded.

"Yeah, he isn't, but now I know why," Howard answered. "You know, it would certainly be a shame if Daddy lost his job because of this deal not going through…"

Duo immediately caught on to that train of thought. "You know, you have a point," he acknowledged. "It would serve him right to be stuck in the same spot he put me in."

"Too bad we can't get to him directly," Howard lamented. "Still, I'll do what I can by calling him up at all hours of the night or something; put him on edge you know? He's more liable to make some mistakes if he's tired."

"Probably only get him demoted," Duo pointed out. "Anything is better than nothing, I guess."

"I hear ya," Howard agreed. "Well, that's all I really wanted to know. Now, that we have that out of the way, let's get down to the real reason I brought you out here."

"Real reason?" Duo repeated, confused. If that wasn't the real reason why Howard brought him here, then what was it?

"You see those nightstands over there?"

"Yeah. What about them?"

"Got a friend who's interested in them and I need some muscle getting them out."

"You gotta be kiddin' me."

--

Once again, they hadn't left off on good terms. Mueller was pissier than usual, Alex was quiet, though he was always quiet, Sylvia was more sarcastic and mean, and as for Hilde, well, her mind was preoccupied.

Yeah, yeah, she was using her head for something other than trying to make people happy. So what? She wasn't some stupid blonde airhead who just talked like babies and didn't have to pay for drinks at her favorite club. She was capable of higher thinking despite some of the bonehead crap she said or did in front of other people. She was fairly intelligent, something most people didn't know because A) they thought she was stupid and single-minded and B) they judged her long before they got to know her.

It was their loss, not hers.

Seeing how fierce Solo was getting whenever they met after school was really worrying her. She couldn't lie and say that she hadn't a crush on him. I mean, c'mon! Who wouldn't like to wake up to a mug like that every morning for the rest of their lives? But, sigh, he was spoken for by the only other person she had ever liked.

What was it with her and being attracted to gay guys anyway?

Conveniently, she chose to ignore the talk about an orgy that the blond had supposedly been apart of and had supposedly done it with both of the sexes.

However, just because both males were taken, and with each other no less, didn't mean that she didn't care about them. In fact, she purposely made it her priority to stay out of the arguments and remain a spectator. Perhaps it was because of this that she was able to see what she had seen.

They didn't stick out too much and they weren't doing anything out of the ordinary. No, what made those two guys and a girl catch her attention was the way they were watching Solo.

The blonde girl with weird eyebrows had a hungry look, as if she was about to pounce on the guy and just eat him up. The guy with the crutches was smirking, as if enjoying what was going on at the time. Then there was that other guy, the China guy. He looked smug or something, as if he knew something and was about to hold it over somebody's head.

It gave her the willies, big time.

So like a protective older sister and devoted yaoi fangirl, she was going to do whatever it took to make sure that her boys were not about to be harmed or maimed in any way, shape, form, or fashion and especially if it came from a girl with weird eyebrows and two hunky-looking guys.

However, bringing up the subject that someone or some guys were plotting against Solo to her friends who happened to be nearly estranged from the guy was not an easy task. It was out of the question that she wouldn't broach the subject to Mueller since the guy was pissed off more than usual. She'd go to Sylvia but that girl was emitting some sort of unholy aura so she was out. That left only Alex who wasn't acting anymore different than he usually was.

Eh, it was better than nothing.

Upon telling him about what she had caught a glimpse of, Alex had immediately brought up the possibility that maybe she was just looking too much into nothing. She had countered by saying that she had gotten a bad feeling about them and her feelings were rarely wrong, that is when she actually paid attention to them.

Ultimately, she convinced Alex to keep a lookout for anything.

Hopefully, it would all be a waste of time.


	36. The Sacrifices We Make

Author's Note: One more time, following one ShadowMajin's advice, I am going to advertise a forum that I started back in April of which nobody has responded to. If you can't find it, take the link from my profile and it should lead you straight to it. Honestly, I want as many opinions for this as possible. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

The Sacrifices We Make

If there was an animal that could be used to accurately describe Duo, Solo was sure that it was a cat.

Even though he was small in stature, he managed to somehow defy the laws of physics by taking up more room than was possible. He knew that since the guy was sprawled all over him, not that he minded, of course. Unresisting to temptation, he allowed himself to indulge and begin to stroke the long, chestnut hair as if the teen was a pet.

If anything, Duo snuggled closer into him, making it all the more worth it. Was there no limit to how adorable this guy could get?

Hearing the low boom of thunder from outside served to remind him that they still had school today and, unfortunately, the storm had not come in time to possibly flood the area and cancel it. He did not feel like getting up and especially in such a comfortable position too. Plus, he didn't want to wake Duo up for something as trivial as a thing like school.

The sacrifices he had to make…

Huh, well that was weird. A few weeks ago, if he felt like ditching school, he would have done so in a heartbeat. Now, he was actually considering going, not because he knew that his uncle was willing to discipline for doing such a thing but because Duo went. Damn, he was really getting soft…but it wasn't such a…bad thing…not really…

Had he really changed? Was that why he was having such a falling out with his old buddies? If it meant giving up Duo to go back to the old way, then fuck it, that was too much of a sacrifice. What was that saying again? Knowledge gained is innocence lost? Eh, it was something like that.

He didn't resist a yawn that decided to free itself from him. That action, however, woke Duo up, the braided one yawning like a puppy as he regained consciousness.

"Morning," Duo greeted groggily, his eyes remaining firmly shut.

"And I was about to wake you up too," Solo whispered to Duo. "Well, we got to get up and all. It's going to be a shitty day, I swear."

"Dun wanna," Duo whined.

A loud clap of thunder tore through the serene silence.

"DAMN IT!" Duo swore, now fully awake.

"This sucks," Solo agreed as he sat up, Duo sliding off his body.

The next half hour was filled with grumbles and complains as the two got ready and tromped down for a cold breakfast. An hour later, along with Quatre, they arrived at school with had a dark, forbidding look about it thanks to the storm clouds above.

No sooner had they gotten out of their transportation when the flood of rain drenched them without warning, causing the three teens to flee into the school building along with anybody else unlucky enough to still be outside.

"Son of a bitch!" Duo swore as he began to twist his braid harshly, squeezing the water that had taken up residency out. "This is just perfect! Fan-fucking-tastic!"

"And you always wondered why I used to bug you to cut your hair," Quatre commented dryly.

"Like you have a right to talk!" Duo retorted, giving his braid a particular harsh twist. "You've never had long hair a day in your life!"

"Do you know why now?" Quatre replied.

"I don't know about that but I do know this," Solo groused. "I'm heading to the can, meet you guys at the lockers."

"You mean you can find your way to my locker?" Duo mock-gasped. "Dear lord he's growing up!"

"Don't fall in!" Quatre called out to him as Solo marched away.

More or less barging into the restroom, Solo made a quick stop at the sinks to make an imitation of Duo as he squeezed the water out of his hair. Getting a good amount of it out, he headed to the can to take care of his business, not in the mood to whistle since the outside weather was really doing a number on his mood today. At least he hadn't lashed out yet. Who knows, he might have hit a kitten…

Finishing up, he made his way to the sinks once again to wash his hands and keep up a good hygiene. However, as he was in the midst of doing that, he felt two arms snake around his waist. At first, he had an idea of who it was and his mind instantly fell at a hundred miles per second into the gutter when he noticed something protruding into his back. Now, unless Duo was hiding something from him, he knew that the no male he had ever known had such a protrusion.

Thus, twisting his head around, he found himself glaring down at Dorothy Catalonia.

"You know you're in the wrong bathroom," Solo spoke up, his voice cold.

"I don't think that really matters right now, do you?" asked the stuck up voice of Chang Wufei who was reclining against the locked bathroom door.

Frowning, Solo scanned the restroom quickly, only to find to his dismay that Heero Yuy was also joining the party as he grinned predatorily at the blond male.

Could things get any worse than this?

Giving Heero another look, he asked, "How's the leg doing?"

Heero's smug look instantly dropped as it contorted into one of fury but he was stopped before he could do anything to purge it.

"We're not here for that, Heero," Wufei reprimanded. "We're just here for a nice chat, that's all."

"What the hell do you three want?" Solo demanded, not in the mood for any kind of game.

"Straight to the point, as usual," Wufei commented. "Since you want to get down to business so badly, we might as well reciprocate. Basically put, whatever relationship you have with Maxwell, we want you to break it off and unconditionally sever it."

"That's the stupidest thing that I've ever heard!" Solo snapped.

"It may not be so stupid once you know that that's the only way you're going to keep yourself out of prison," Wufei replied dryly.

Solo couldn't help but pause and frown. Now what the hell did that mean?

Wufei answered him before he could ask the question. "I have come across some interesting artifacts that could positively link you up to a certain fire that destroy half an industrial complex."

Solo fought to keep himself from paling. How the hell…how did he find out about that? Still, he had to use the golden rule in getting out of trouble: deny, deny, deny.

"I have no idea what you mean by that," he said stiffly, glaring at the Chinese teen.

"I thought you might say that," Wufei chuckled. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a small object and held it up for the blond to see. "Does this seem familiar?"

Solo couldn't stop himself from paling this time. In Wufei's hand was an old-fashion lighter that was blackened from what could have possibly been a fire. Normally he could have pointed out that the lighter could have belonged to just anybody except that Wufei had the lighter's bottom facing up, miniscule words that were barely there engraved into it.

_Property of Solomon Winner_.

Damn it, he always knew that thing would come back some day to haunt him! He didn't even need to be up close to it and squinting to see the engraving. Fuck!

"Of course, that's not all, my friend," Wufei continued smugly. "You see, not only must you rid yourself of Maxwell, you must also accept Ms. Catalonia here as your new significant other."

Solo could bring himself to say anything to that, the weight of his past arson firmly set on his shoulders. If Uncle Raberba, or even his father, found out about this…

FUCK!

"Can I have some time to think about this?" he asked suddenly.

"Sure you can," Wufei replied. "You have until the end of the day. If you refuse or don't do anything, then I'm afraid you're going to need to acquaint yourself with the local prison population."

Dorothy looked as if she wanted to protest and demand an answer right then and there while Heero was just enjoying the show. Payback was so sweet…

"Alright, you'll have your answer after school," Solo said, his insides twisting as he spoke each and every word.

Pulling up close to him, Dorothy said, "See you soon, my little tiger," and pecked his check.

Soon enough, the blond was alone in the restroom, Heero's hobbling form the last thing to disappear out the door.

--

"Something wrong?" asked Walker, his arm wrapped affectionately around Relena's waist.

"You know, I thought I saw the oddest thing this morning," she answered as they headed towards their first class.

"What was that?" Walker asked.

"I saw Dorothy coming out of the boys' restroom," Relena said, her confusion obvious. "I wonder what it is she could be doing in a place where she shouldn't even be."

"Yeah, I wonder if she came out of the one that smells rotten from high heaven," Walker groused.

"That's something I didn't need to hear or know," the girl muttered.

"Hey, it's that Winner kid!" Walker suddenly exclaimed. "You think he might want to know about that? He's has something going on with that girl, doesn't he?"

Obviously referring to the incident at Homecoming, Relena thought that perhaps Walker was right, that Quatre _should_ know about this odd occurrence. After all, girls weren't allowed or suppose to be in the boys' restroom.

--

"Something wrong?" Duo asked.

"Nothing you should be worried about," Solo muttered in reply.

Duo frowned. It wasn't that he objected to Solo wanting to be near him all the time but the guy had suddenly gotten all clingy, sticking to side in-between classes and now at lunch. Something was on the guy's mind but he hadn't breathed a single word about it. It was really trying the braided one's nerves.

A loud clap of thunder was audible, even above the sounds of teens chatting and gossiping.

He was getting a bad feeling about this, and it wasn't just the fact that it was pouring and raining cats and dogs outside. He had caught the smug looks of Dorothy, Wufei, and Heero whenever he looked around. There was really something off about those looks but he didn't know what it exactly was except that it meant trouble.

So, when Quatre joined them for their midday meal, Duo was more than willing to draft his best friend's services.

"I was told something really interesting this morning," Quatre said right off the bat before anybody could say something. "Somebody caught Dorothy coming out of the boys' restroom this morning."

Upon hearing this, Solo immediately stiffened.

"What business would Dorothy have in the guys' bathroom?" Duo pondered aloud. "Well, at least besides the obvious but wouldn't she have to be in the girls' bathroom for that? I can't see her using one of the urinals to save her life."

Much to Duo's irritation, though, Quatre wasn't paying him any mind. Instead, the smaller blond's eyes were boring into Solo, as if the taller blond knew something about it.

"What are you looking at?" Solo snapped defensively, glaring at his cousin.

Quatre continued to watch the long haired blond as if he was some fresh piece of meat. Duo didn't like it.

"What is going on?" Duo demanded.

Another boom of thunder made the windows shudder before all the lights in the building shut off, plunging everybody into darkness. Silence reigned throughout the cafeteria for only a minute before other teens began to take advantage of the unexpected turn of events and began to make immature 'ooh' noises, as if trying to scare the other students.

Sighing, Duo placed his forehead on his propped up hands, muttering, "This is just great…"

As the noise level slowly began to rise as more and more teens got back into their social moods, the lights began to flicker on and off continually. Seems like the school's technical support was incompetent.

Finally, the intercom went off, the principal announcing that school would be canceled for the rest of the day. Solo paled as soon as the announcement was finished. He had told Wufei that he would give him his answer when school was over…

"So what do you say to my ultimatum?" Wufei's voice came from behind, right on cue.

It was too soon. Solo found that he couldn't think, couldn't say anything. Wufei must have been reading his mind because his smile was spreading, becoming a hungry grin.

"And what is that suppose to mean?" Duo demanded, glaring at Wufei.

"You'll see," Wufei replied.

"Well, it's just going to have to wait," Quatre interrupted. "We have to be getting home now and Father said he needed to see us immediately after school."

"Did your father foresee us getting out early?" Wufei inquired.

"It's best to take him literally," Quatre stated humorlessly. "So, if you don't mind, we'll be taking out leave now, Chang."

"You win," Wufei said, holding his hands up in mock-surrender. "But, I will expect an answer first thing _tomorrow morning_, Solomon," he continued.

"Let's _go_," Quatre cut in, placing his hands on his cousin and best friend and proceeded to drag them away. "It's best not to keep _Father_ waiting."

"Indeed it isn't," Wufei murmured to himself as his onyx never left the three teens' retreating forms.


	37. The Guilty's Guilt

Author's Note: Bad news folks, I have gotten a case of writer's block. However, there is some good news: I am ten chapters ahead so you all won't have to wait months on end for the next update. In the meantime, enjoy this latest chapter.

Also, check out Archsage Soren's "Death Wing." Things are picking up in that fic and if you want to kill some time, give it a shot, leave a review for Archsage while you're at it. As a fic, it's one of a kind, at the moment, a unique thing on a site where old gimics are becoming main stream.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

The Guilty's Guilt

"Why the hell are we sitting here in this shitty weather?" Sylvia demanded from the passenger seat. "It's not like we'll get a chance to be with Solo anyway. He'll probably just avoid us or something."

"It's just the principle of it," Mueller defended. "This will show that asshole we're serious no matter what, rain or shine, sleet or snow."

"But it's lunchtime!" Hilde whined. "Can't we get something to eat?"

A loud clap of thunder interrupted the solemn conversation.

"Does that answer your question?" Mueller asked.

"How does that answer anything?" Alex inquired. "It's just thunder."

"Hey, something's going on," Sylvia cut in, sitting up in her seat.

Squinting their eyes so as to see better through the thick downpour, the four friends were able to make out school buses pulling in, along with multitudes of cars, taking students out of the school, students fleeing for their lives to their cars all the while.

"Cool, school's out!" Hilde cheered.

"She's right," Sylvia agreed. "Either it's early release or school's canceled.

"Well, looks like we can't go out and meet Solo since it's wet and all," Hilde said brightly. "Let's go and eat something!"

"Like hell!" Mueller snapped, making to get out of the car and into the pouring rain.

"Touch that door handle and I will tear out your eyes, rip off your balls, cut our your tongue, and stick them all up in your ass," Sylvia threatened, the tone in her voice severe.

Mueller paused and looked at her, trying to determine whether or not if she was serious. Finally, after a few tense minutes, Mueller slumped back into the driver's seat, defeated.

"So what do you feel like having for lunch?"

--

"So what was his answer?" Dorothy asked eagerly as the three plotting teens waited within the school building for their rides.

"The shorter Winner came to his rescue but tomorrow morning, he will have no other choice but to give us his answer," Wufei stated smugly.

"Wait, you're giving him more time?!" Heero exclaimed. "I thought we were gonna have an answer today! This isn't part of the plan!"

"Yeah!" Dorothy agreed.

"Would either of you two like to explain that to Mr. Winner?" Wufei asked.

"Hell yeah I would!" Heero snapped.

"I was talking about Quatre's father," Wufei stated coolly.

The wind taken out of their sails, both the dissenters fell silent.

"That's what I thought," Wufei said. "Quatre may have bought him some more time but that's all it is. Time. And unfortunately for him, he is running out of it."

"So, what else do you have on Solo?" Dorothy asked, changing the subject. "You did say that you have more than that lighter to use against him."

"To tell the truth, that's all I have," Wufei replied.

"So you were bluffing?" Dorothy exclaimed.

"I was, but he doesn't know that and the lighter is all we really need for this to work," Wufei answered. "Trust me, nothing can go wrong. The only possible way that dear old Solomon can get out of this is to admit his crimes to someone of authority but I am positive that he is not willing to go to jail. We have him exactly where we want him. He has no choice but to bow down to our wishes."

"But what if he doesn't?" Heero asked.

"Then we follow thru," Wufei stated. "We turn over the proof that he so fears and send him off to jail."

"We can't do that!" Dorothy cried. "I don't want him to go to jail! How else can I truly get him to be mine?"

"The results will ultimately be the same," Wufei continued, ignoring Dorothy's outburst. "Maxwell will be left alone and at our mercy. We'll show that rat where exactly he belongs."

"It better be soon," Heero said. "I can't wait."

--

"Care to explain what the hell Wufei was talking about?" Duo inquired once they were some distance away from the school. "What did he mean by this ultimatum anyway?"

Solo kept quiet, refusing to answer as he gazed at the raging storm just outside of the limo. Seeing the sullen teen in such a mood was quite unnerving since Solo was always in some sort of cool attitude, letting nothing bother him whatsoever. Though he didn't like, Solo forced himself to ignore all attempts to press him for information.

If there was any time that he regretted all the stuff he did when he was younger, now was that time. He never thought that it would catch up to him _now_ of all times, especially when he had just started to get his life all straightened out and whatnot.

Could he let himself be sent to jail or destroy the one piece of stability that he had become in Duo's life and go out with that slut? Every time he began to lean one way, he would immediately turn around and look at his other option with greater scrutiny. Time was running out and he would have to give Wufei his answer soon.

"For the love of God Solo!" Duo exclaimed. "Why won't you answer me? I want to understand what's going on but I can't help if you won't talk to me!"

Sighing, Solo looked at the braided one. Duo stared at him, unable to completely comprehend the sorrowful look that the blond was giving him yet it was more than enough to silence him. Quatre, however, continued to eye him, his eyes narrowing. Solo had no doubt that his cousin was putting two and two together and getting close to four. It was only a matter of time before the smaller Winner would force him to confess.

Then his fate would be sealed.

This was just great. His life, everything, was going down the crapper and at a supersonic rate too. But that was not all, oh no. After the incident at the Homecoming Dance, his uncle had informed him of what was going on. He was on his very last chance before the netting that his family and prestige had given him would be taken away and this fiasco was most likely be the thing that planted him six feet under. The only other people who had known about the arson had been his old friends but they didn't look like they would be helping him out anytime soon due to their recent fights.

Damn it, he was fucked!

Unfortunately, it wasn't in the good way either.

At first he was glad that the limo had pulled into the garage first before they could get out. At least he wouldn't get his hair wet again. Before he could get out, though, he felt his head violently tugged back.

Somebody had grabbed him by his hair.

That somebody, whoever it was, was going to die a slow, horrible death.

"Could you please excuse us Duo?" Quatre asked, his voice cold enough to put frost on the windows. "There's something I would like to talk with Solomon about, in private."

There was no way this could be good.

Duo stared blankly at Quatre for a few minutes before simply nodding and getting out, leaving Solo to deal with his cousin all by his lonesome.

Quatre allowed a few minutes of silence to pass before beginning his inquisition. "I'm only going to ask you this once and I expect you to answer me honestly and truthfully. Tell me what exactly happened today."

"That doesn't sound like a question to me," Solo muttered.

"Solomon!" Quatre snapped, his blue eyes hard, his grip on Solo's hair tightening just a fraction.

"Okay, alright, what do you want?" Solo sighed as he fell back into his seat.

Quatre's eyes scrutinized him, as if expecting him to try and make a run for it. Once he was satisfied, he released his hold on Solo's hair though he made sure to keep his hand close to it just in case.

"I want you to explain what happened at lunch," Quatre demanded. "What did Wufei mean? What was he talking about? Why have you been acting queerly all day?"

"News flash, I am a queer," Solo retorted.

"This is not the time for that," Quatre snapped. "I want you to start telling me what's going on and I want to hear you start talking now."

"You want to know, right?" Solo said sassily. "Well here's the long and short of it. I'm a criminal plain and simple."

Frowning, Quatre said, "And what does this have to do with Wufei? I don't understand."

"Of course you wouldn't," Solo snorted bitterly. "You've never cut in line before just because your daddy wouldn't approve. You've never gotten into any kind of trouble because you're oh so perfect and the rest of us have to live up to your example."

Quatre blinked. He had never heard such bitterness before, especially when it was obviously being aimed at him. But what did it have to do with this? What did it have to do with Solo being a criminal, that is if what he was saying was true.

"It's always 'Why can't you be more like Quatre? He's the finest of the Winner breed.' or 'Why can't you be polite and courteous like your cousin? He would never slurp his soup like that.' Do you know how long I've had to hear that crap?!" Solo pressed on. "So you know what I did? I did my best to do the opposite, just to piss the crap out of everybody. Do you actually think that I could have been friends with a paranoid asshole like Mueller or a emotionless bitch like Sylvia Noventa? No but that's what happened."

"Solo, I—"

"Shut the hell up Quatre," Solo snarled. "You want to know what's up, don't ya? Well, I'll tell ya. Ya remember a few years ago, that abandoned WEI building that they were thinking of tearing down? Well, me and the others snuck in one night to smoke some good weed. Next thing I fucking know, the building's on fire and we're hauling ass out of there like it was the end of the world. I find out later that I dropped my fucking lighter while we were running and I didn't have the fucking balls to go back and try to find it. The police didn't find it and I hoped that it was destroyed in the fire but since my luck is shitty, it wasn't and now that asshole Wufei managed to get a hold of it."

"And he's blackmailing you with it, huh?" Quatre finished.

"You're damn right," Solo stated. "Now he wants me to break up with Duo and go out with out with Dorothy the slut or go to jail for the rest of my teen life. Do you know what the fuck they do to arsonists Quatre?"

"I don't know," Quatre admitted.

"I don't know either and I don't want to know," Solo replied. "I don't want to go to jail but I don't want to…"

"…hurt Duo either?" Quatre finished.

"Yeah," Solo agreed, falling silent at long last.

"You know," Quatre began, "it's going to take more than a lighter to prove that you were one of the ones to start that fire. What other proof does Wufei have that can prove that you were responsible? You can just say that he stole it from you and that it was already in that condition from accidentally dropping it into a fireplace. It's all flimsy really if he just has the lighter."

"Would you take a chance like that?" Solo asked. "It's my life that's at stake here. Not only that, do you think Duo would like it if it turns out that Wufei does have enough proof that could convict me? Then what?"

"You make a good point…" Quatre acknowledged. "You know, you wouldn't be in this situation in the first place if—"

"Don't say another word," Solo growled. "Does that really matter now?"

"Another good point," Quatre admitted. "To tell you the truth, I don't really see much of a way out of this unless you can somehow find out what Wufei has on you and maybe get back your lighter just in case. Otherwise, you're screwed."

"Tell me something I don't know," Solo muttered. "Just…damn! I never wanted this. And now Duo is going to have to…"

"What?" Quatre asked. "Duo's going to have to what?"

"He's gonna be hurt," Solo whispered. "And I'm the one who gonna cause it. I never fucking wanted this to happen! Never!" In renewed angered, he punched his fist into the car seat, his face contorted with fury.

Then it clicked.

Why the hell hadn't he seen this before? Quatre just told him what his best option was. He had to get that lighter back and whatever dirt Wufei may have on him but he had to get it without Wufei finding out. There were only four other people he could trust on this matter and they were also people who had just as much to lose. Sure it was underhanded but hey, if he was going down, he was going to take as many people down with him as possible.

Plus he knew they would do the same exact thing if it was their asses on the line instead of his.

Pulling out his cell phone, he muttered to himself, "I'm going to fix this shit if it's the last thing I do."

"What are you doing?" Quatre asked, frowning once again.

"Just calling up some help," Solo answered as he pressed the phone receiver to his ear just in time to hear the ringing.

--

For once, Dorothy was in a bind. Things were finally looking up but somehow, it just wasn't…_right_ for some reason.

She had Solo where she wanted him, balancing precariously on an edge where he could either choose her or choose a less amiable one. It was only a matter of time until she got what she wanted but still…

Why was she thinking like this? Stuff like this never bothered her before. Hadn't she crushed so many people's hearts before this without a care in the world for them as long as she was happy? What was so different about this that she was beginning to feel funny?

Was it because she was finding out more about the only other two people that she could possibly relate to at this point in time? Was it because she was finding out what scum they were? It was nothing alien to her; she was the granddaughter of Durban Dermail for Christ's sake! She had seen more terrible and criminal things than this paltry blackmail scheme.

But why was this different? Why, why, why?

Currently, she was walking straight towards her grandfather's study. She needed to get her mind back to where it needed to be. She couldn't have any doubts whatsoever in this. What better way to do that than by just sticking by her grandfather's side and pick up the habits that had helped to make her the person she was today.

However, as she approached the doors, they opened and a man came out, one that repulsed her to no end.

"Greetings, Ms. Catalonia," the man said, his gruff voice filling her to the brim with disgust.

What was this worm doing here anyway? Truly, this man's face was one that only a mother could love and even then that was pushing it, he was that ugly.

"Pardon me Mr. Tsubarov," she said, "but is my grandfather in there?"

"Yes, we were just concluding some business," Tsubarov replied. "I think he's free at the moment if you need to speak with him."

"Thank you, it was a pleasure to see you again," she said, passing by the man. As she did so, she felt a sharp sting of pain in her posterior and she shot a glare at the perpetrator. She did not like that look the dark eyed man was giving her, nor that grin that managed to show itself from that poor wrinkled excuse for a face.

It sent shivers up her spine, not because it was creepy but because she was sure she had seen it from somewhere before.

He winked at her and she almost felt her repulsion try to exit her body via vomit. She managed to hold it back in at the last minute and she didn't let her eyes leave him as the man left.

Wait…

That strangeness that she was feeling…it couldn't be…how could a man as disgusting as that manage to help her realize what was wrong with her in such a short amount of time?

This feeling…

It was guilt.

Could it really be possible that she, Dorothy Catalonia, was feeling guilty?


	38. Activities Not Quite Legal

Author's Note: It seems like some people were surprised by the ending of last chapter. I hate two dimensional characters; I can't even bring myself to use them in fics. So yeah, last chapter's ending shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise to those that keep up with my stuff. And if it did, then I must be a better storyteller than I thought I was. Anyway, the title of this chapter should be warning enough, barring the usual warnings, and give enough hint that something is going to happen. What precisely? You'll just have to read to find out. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Activities Not Quite Legal

The innocent cell phone had been lying in the pocket that had been placed in the morning, silently waiting to be used or to receive a signal that somebody was contacting it.

It just so happened that the latter of the two occurred and the little cell phone shrieked with all it's joy at the marvelous occasion.

However, the owner of the phone was not as cheerful as the phone since he grabbed it roughly, swearing and cursing all the way.

"Who the fuck's calling me, son of a bitch!"

The dark skinned teen known to the world as Mueller didn't bother to take a look at the caller id as he snapped open the phone and barked into it.

"Who the hell is this and what do you want? If this is a wrong number, so help me—"

"_Why don't you sit down and take a chill pill_?" the voice on the other end snapped. "_God, you really haven't changed a bit have you Mueller?_"

"Solo? Is that you?" Mueller exclaimed, his wrathful rant cut off prematurely and permanently. Of course, that did not mean that another wasn't on its way. "You grow some balls or something?" he sneered. "After all this time, you finally decide to call? Should I feel honored or something?"

"_Can you shut the hell up for a minute?_" Solo interrupted.

"I don't know, why don't you blow me first queer?" Mueller replied.

"Hey! Who you talking to?" Hilde asked, her lunch still being chewed in her mouth and being shown for all to see.

"That's disgusting," Sylvia stated, not bothering to turn her head away.

"_Mueller,_" Solo sighed, obviously exasperated and the teen couldn't help but enjoy it. Payback was a bitch, wasn't it? "_I'm in big trouble and—_"

"You need our help, huh?" This time it was Mueller interrupting. "Go blow it out your rear."

"_Could you let me say something?_" Solo snapped.

"I don't know," Mueller said. "Depends if you're going to say something important. Better make it quick, I'm eating lunch."

"_You_ _really are an asshole, you know that,_" Solo stated blandly.

"Tell me something I don't know," Mueller retorted.

"_Somebody found my lighter._"

Any reply that Mueller may have made dried and shriveled up in his throat. "You don't mean…"

"What's up Mueller?" Hilde called out, food still in her mouth. "You got quiet all of a sudden. Something wrong?"

"_One and the same,_" Solo confirmed. "_I don't know when and I don't know how but some asshole has it and is blackmailing me with it._"

"Fuck!" Mueller swore. "This is some kind of joke, isn't it? You're just fucking with me, right?"

"Mueller!" Hilde whined.

"Just answer her already!" Sylvia snapped.

"_I wish I were,_" Solo answered. "_I wish this was some sick joke but no dice. I'm in deep shit and if you think I won't drag you down with me, think again._"

"Why am I not surprised?" Mueller muttered to himself. "So what do you want me to do anyway?" he asked aloud.

"_I'm glad you asked that,_" Solo replied smugly. "_There is something that you and the others can do._"

"What do I get out of this then?" Mueller demanded.

"_Besides saving your own ass? Well, you know how you're always talking about those corporations and everything?_"

"What about it?" Mueller asked suspiciously.

"_Well, this is _your_ big opportunity to do something about them by getting that lighter back. Doing so means that you get to make a hit against the capitalist pigs that run the world since the guy who has the lighter belongs to one of those families that you say are responsible for all the misery in the world._"

Slowly, a smile crept onto Mueller's face. "So, what do you want us to do?"

--

Having decided to forego her grandfather's company, Dorothy had retreated to her room, moping around in the darkened place and curled up.

Guilt.

It was such a new feeling that she didn't know how to handle it. She had honestly never felt it before. All her life she had been brought up to believe everything was hers for the taken, nothing was beyond her reach, people were just pawns to use until you grew tired of them and threw them away. That had only been reinforced when she came to live with her grandfather, her parents having to go live half a world away on the orders of Mr. Romafellor.

There was nobody she detested more than that man, a person she had never met face to face yet had done so much harm to her existence.

Was that why she treated all men like shit?

Well, it was true. She used her looks to attract all her suitors and had them fight one another to gain her favor. Everybody had been running head over heels just to spend a minute with her, to have her attention solely focused on them and them alone. To have that kind of power had been wonderful.

But all that changed when she met Solo Winner. He had refused to play her games and had kept himself just out of her reach at all times. It was certainly true that you wanted what you couldn't have more than what you could or already did have. He had been a challenged and yet he still continued to be a challenge for her.

Despite being in such a terrible position, the guy still wouldn't make the decision to break up with that braided loser and just go out with her. Was he that loyal or was he that stupid? All he had to do was just agree to the terms and no harm, no foul.

Sigh…

But if he did agree, then he would be with her against his will, not the way she wanted it. She liked him because of who he was and that's exactly how she wanted him when he did decide to date her.

Seeing that Wufei was willing to go through on his threat when he had convinced her that it was a bluff, it made her skin crawl at his deviousness. It was like she was really seeing Wufei for the first time and she had to wonder why he had once been one of the most popular guys in school

Maybe this whole scheme was the root of her new emotion, maybe it wasn't but she was feeling in nonetheless.

Something had to be done to alleviate it but what could she do?

What was there that she could do that could rid her of this guilt?

Then it came to her, just like that. She knew what it was she needed to do.

Without further thought, she raced out of her room.

--

"Look at those assholes, they think they're so great," Mueller growled as he glared daggers at what was known as the Chang Estate through the car windshield.

"Can you just let go of that stuff for just five minutes?" Alex asked, exasperated. "We have to go in there and get the lighter while it's pouring rain. Christ, why'd that damn thing have to show up now?"

"It's gotta be somebody in the government," Mueller stated. "Who else could find that thing? It'd be like trying to find a needle in a haystack."

"So how are we going to do this?" Alex interrupted. "I just want to get this over with already."

"So you can go back to the hotel room and spend the rest of the day with the girls?" Mueller asked. "You really have become a pussy, you know that?"

"Mueller," Alex growled threateningly.

"Alright, alright, have it your way," Mueller grumbled. Despite being paranoid to the nth degree about conspiracies and what not, Mueller was quite smart when planning anything illegal, usually involving breaking and entering at some point or another.

His eyes were unusually sharp as they not only scoped out the building and surroundings, but were also sending messages of potential "entrances" to his brain which were snatched up and deciphered by the complex organ. After a couple of minutes, a course of action settled on, he made his plan known to his single companion.

Those girls really had it lucky. They had declined to come out on this "mission" due to the rain and whatnot. Also, if they were to be caught, it would be quite the scandal that the only daughter of the Noventa family was involved. Thus it was just Mueller and Alex who were here and both were determined to get this over with as fast as they possibly could.

After a few more minutes of discussion, the two males climbed out of their vehicle and braved the storm outside as they made tracks over to the Chang Estate.

--

Things were finally going Wufei's way after one long, horrific week. He was back into a position of power once more, Maxwell would soon be at his mercy once more, and it would only be a matter of time until he was able to reclaim his niche back at school again. All of this was all thanks to a cigarette lighter of all things, one that had given him a large hunk of leverage to use against Solomon Winner and finally take him out of the picture.

He was still debating whether or not he should turn it in anyway, after all it was part of a crime scene, an arson nonetheless and that type of crime was difficult to solve. He was well within his rights to turn it in. It was his duty as a citizen of this nation.

Still, that didn't mean he couldn't get something out of just holding on to it.

Hey, even he couldn't say no to something like that.

Heero was certainly eager for the transaction to take place. It didn't matter to him which Solo chose since he won both ways: Maxwell would be in his grasp again. Keeping Heero calm, though, was a bit frustrating since he wanted to get his hands on the braided fag as soon as possible.

That's it, he needed to get another look at that lighter, the one thing that had made all this possible. He wanted to bask in its glory once more and admire it.

Quickly, he returned to his room and rushed over to where he had hidden the small object. He couldn't risk letting his parents find this; they'd assume the worst and think he was using illegal substances. That was certainly the last thing that he needed, especially after all the crap that he had endured over the past few days.

Ah, here it was. He held the lighter gingerly and gazed at it lovingly. Who would have ever thought that this tiny thing could create as much chaos and dissention in a person's life? Heh, Solo tried to bury this item deep into his past and he, Wufei, had uncovered it and brought it to the surface once more. It was enough to make the teen giddy and lightheaded from the amount of power that he now held over the blond's head.

Of course, that brought him back to the question that he had started off with. What was he going to do with the lighter once Solo had chosen his fate? He knew he had made a deal with the Catalonia whore and he always honored his word but then again he wanted Solo to suffer and have his freedom stolen from him by the law itself. Which one should he ultimately choose?

He wouldn't rush his decision. He had all the time in the world to decide, after all. It was Winner and Maxwell who were lacking time.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he hadn't realized that he wasn't alone in his room. He was not aware of this other person's approach nor would he know about their intent until it was too late.

It an instant, his world exploded into pain as something impacted the back of his head? What was going on? Who was—?

Another blow soon rendered him unconscious.

--

Now that Chang Wufei was out, his assailant bent down to retrieve the lighter that had fallen from his hand. The intruder took a look at the bottom of the lighter to confirm that it was the genuine article that they were looking for. Once that had been done, the attacker turn to leave only to freeze in their tracks as they learned that they had company.

The intruder blinked dumbly as the dark skinned youth that had occupied the doorway and was also staring at them uncomprehendingly.

"Shit!" the teen swore and shoved his way to the attacker. "Shut the door Alex! Quickly!"

The intruder was surprised to see another youth come in, this one much taller than the first teen, and close the door behind him.

Oh great, now the intruder was trapped with two unknowns and an unconscious Wufei. The only thing that would make this perfect would be if one of Wufei's relatives came in at that moment.

Fortunately, that did not happen.

"Who are you?" the taller teen asked quietly, eyes boring into the intruder.

"Who am I?" the intruder exclaimed. "I could ask the same question."

"Ah ha!" the dark skinned cried, snatching the lighter away from the intruder. Checking the bottom, the teen pocketed the lighter. "Got it!" he crowed. "Now let's get the hell out of here. Thanks for saving us the trouble of looking for this."

"Give that back!" the intruder demanded.

"Sorry missy, but the original owner called us up to get this back," the dark skinned teen said, unapologetically.

"Wait, are you talking about Solo?" the intruder asked.

The two young strangers froze. "How do you know that name?" the dark skinned teen demanded.

"I was trying to get that back to him," the intruder stated. "I don't trust you enough that I would believe you are going to give that back to him so hand it over."

"We have a stake in this and it is in our interests to get that back to Solo," the taller teen finally spoke. "You can be certain we're gonna return it."

There was something about this male…something special. The intruder could actually feel a strange sensation in their gut; could this be what was called butterflies in the stomach? Whatever it was, it was making the intruder feel funny, but in a good way.

"Are you sure I can trust you?" the intruder asked.

The taller teen smiled slightly. "Yeah, you can trust us."

"I hate to interrupted this teen drama, but Alex, we gotta go!" the dark skinned teen interrupted.

"Hey, do you think you could give Solo a message from me?" the intruder asked.

"Depends," the now named Alex answered.

"Tell him that he owes me one," the intruder said.

"What's your name? Gonna be a bit hard to know who he owes if he don't know who you are," Alex asked.

"Dorothy," the intruder answered.

"C'mon Alex!" the dark skinned teen hissed.

"I hope to see you again," Alex whispered as he followed after his friend.

"So do I," Dorothy murmured. Casting Wufei a disgusted glance, Dorothy quickly made her escape.

--

Solo quickly picked up his phone as it began to vibrate. He was expecting a call and he didn't want it to wake certain people up, thus that was why he had it on vibrate.

"Talk to me," he said softly.

He fell silent as he received his answer, a smirk growing on his face with each passing second.

The rest of his side of the conversation consisted of grunts and single syllable words until he bid the caller farewell and hung up.

Finally, now this whole mess was behind him. Come tomorrow, he would be able to make sure that this would never be able surface again. He could relax now and do so in relative comfort.

Speaking of comfort, he snuggled the sleeping figure that lay beside him, looking as adorable as anything What more could he ask for now that he a large ghost from his past was now laid to rest and his most favorite person in the world was cuddling right next to him, recuperating from a serious bout of fucking?

Yeah, he couldn't think of anything either.


	39. On the Road Again

Author's Note: As one chapter ends, another begins. We're getting into the final stretch guys. That's right, next chapter marks the beginning of the final arc of this fic and it shouldn't disappoint, hopefully. Still, I have to make you all put up with a wrap out chapter. It just wouldn't be one of my fics without one of those. Still, it should set things up so be ready for when the real game begins. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

On the Road Again

Could this day get any better?

First he gets that damn lighter back and then school gets canceled because the roads are nearly flooded. In fact, it was still raining right now. That meant he got to spend more quality time with Duo in the privacy of his room and not among the public ranks of their school.

So as he power-walked down the hallway wearing nothing but a robe and a large grin, Solo could not wait to get back. His hand held onto the lighter tightly, as if afraid that letting it go he would lose it and never see it again until it popped up again to ruin his life.

Though, Mueller did look a bit disgruntled about having to be up at this time of the day, driving through the harsh rain, to give him back the lighter and Alex looked as if he could have cared less. There was something that bothered him. What did he mean that he owed Dorothy one? It was impossible that he could get into her debt. What did she do anyway?

Oh well, that was a question for heads wiser than his at the moment. He had more important things to do.

"What are you doing up so early?"

And that was not one of them.

"I could ask you the same question Q," he retorted as soon as he regained his wits from the unexpected surprise.

"I was just getting a drink of water before I went back to bed," Quatre answered casually and without hesitation. "What about you? What are you doing that has you up so early in the morning _willingly_?"

"Just taking care of some business, that's all," Solo replied, fingers playing with the lighter. "Now that it's taken care of, it's smooth sailing from here on in."

"What about Wufei and his 'ultimatum?'"

"Let's just say that it's meaningless now that the only thing he could use against me is beyond his reach. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bed and Duo to get back to. See you later."

--

"_You can't be serious!_" an enraged Heero Yuy bellowed over the phone. "_How could you lose that thing?!_"

"It was stolen from me!" Wufei defended as he held an icepack against the back of his head. "I don't know how but somehow someone got into my room and got the jump on me."

"_But what about the plan? Don't we have anything else we can use?_" Heero demanded, desperate to get his shot at Maxwell.

"I only had the lighter, it was the only thing I could get my hands on that could link Winner to the fire," Wufei stated as he pressed the icepack harder against his head. "Believe me, I tried to find something, anything, to use as a back up but it just wasn't possible. That lighter was the only surviving piece of evidence—"

"_And now you've lost it,_" Heero snarled. "_Damn it Wufei! How could you?!_"

"I just told you!" Wufei hissed. "Someone attacked me from behind and knocked me unconscious! There's no other way to explain what happened!"

"_How the hell could somebody sneak up on _you_?!_" Heero demanded.

"I don't know!" Wufei yelled into the receiver as his temper was beginning to get out of control. "Look, as long as Winner doesn't know that the lighter's gone, we're still good. I'm going to call him today and get his answer, one way or another."

"_You be sure to call me back,_" Heero grumbled on the other end before hanging up.

Turning the phone off, the Chinese let out a few well placed expletives and guttural noises before managing to calm down just enough to get his head back. Right, he needed to call the Winner residence and get in touch with Solo. Not a problem. He can do this.

Quickly, he dialed in the number and inwardly crowed when he heard the first ring. He was taken by surprise, though, when immediately after the first ring, someone picked up.

"_Hello?_" a groggy voice answered. It took Wufei a couple of seconds before he was able to recognize the voice. It was Solo, he was positive. This made things so much easier now.

"Good morning Winner," he greeted. "As much as I would not like to, lets skip the pleasantries and get down to business."

"_Huh? Why?_" Winner seemed out of it and Wufei couldn't help but enjoy what he was about to do. "_What do you have to say this early in the morning anyway? Can't it wait?_"

"I'm afraid it can't," Wufei replied smugly. "You see I want, no, need an answer from you concerning our little deal in the restroom and I need it now so no more procrastinating. What is your answer?"

Silence greeted him from the other end. Ah yes, he had him just where he wanted him. This was just too good…

"_I'm gonna have to say no, Chang,_" Winner answered dryly, much to Wufei's shock.

"W-what?!" he sputtered.

"_You heard me,_" Winner stated, this time being the one smug. "_I said no. Does that answer your question?_"

"You can't really be serious?!" Wufei exclaimed, baffled. "You're willing to go to jail for that rat?"

"_Why would that matter to you?_" Solo retorted. "_Anyway, you got my answer? Can I hang up now?_"

"You wouldn't or have you forgotten about that lighter?" Wufei said. Okay, he was back in control of this.

"_You know, it's kinda hard threatening me with that when it's clear you're bluffing._"

"What makes you say that? How do you know I'm not holding the lighter right now?"

"_I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm looking right at it?_"

"I can't believe it," Wufei gasped. "It was you who attacked me last night!"

"_Impossible. I was here in my uncle's house all day and night yesterday._"

"Well, well I don't need the lighter!" Wufei bluffed. "I have plenty of other evidence to use against you."

Winner snorted. "_As if that means anything. The only thing of value was the lighter. Anything else is circumstantial and wouldn't hold up in a court of law. Face it Chang. You lose._"

Before Wufei could say anything else, Winner hung up abruptly, ending the call once and for all.

Wufei glared at the phone, his grip tightening on it before he threw it at his wall, the phone shattering into pieces upon contact.

--

"Who was that?" a sleepy voice asked the blond.

Setting the phone aside, Solo looked down at Duo who was snuggled up against him like a cat, his head pillowed on his chest.

"Nobody important," Solo told him as he gently squeezed the braided one. "C'mon, let's go back to sleep, okay?"

"'kay," Duo mumbled as he let loose a cute yawn.

"Precious," Solo whispered as he snuggled back into the bed.

--

There was this noise…this annoying noise that had pulled Solo out of his precious sleep and back into groggy reality. Blinking owlishly, he noticed that Duo was still curled up to him but that didn't explain what that noise was.

"Solo? Are you up?"

Oh wait, somebody was at the door and from the sounds of it, it was Quatre. What could be going on inside that guy's head? Didn't he know that nobody woke him up this early in the morning? Why it was…noon? Man, it was still early!

"Make it stop…" Duo grumbled, his head twisting around in an attempt to find some spot where the knocking wouldn't disturb him.

Okay, that was it. No one bothered his Duo like that. In a sour mood, he removed himself from his bed and marched up to his bedroom door, willing to maim his cousin for life for this travesty.

Shoving his door open, he growled "What?" at his antagonist, on the verge of murder at that moment.

Unfazed by such a greeting, Quatre simply stated, "You have some visitors. Your friends want to have a word with you as soon as possible."

What the hell was Quatre talking about, standing there in his neat clothes and looking all preppy. He didn't have any…oh yeah, them. Guess a little humility was going to be needed but that just wasn't his bag. Still, it was his responsibility in getting rid of them so he might as well just get it over with.

"I'll be down in a minute," he grumbled as he closed the door.

Okay, he was going to have to get dressed. But what was he going to wear? And why was he concerned about what he was going to wear? This was all fucked up here.

Catching sight of Duo curled up in his bed, Solo was sorely tempted to just say fuck it and jumped back under the covers.

Sadly, the world was going to be against him just this one time and he knew he still had to get ready. Stupid ass friends of his, just having to tear him away from his little…sigh…

Mere minutes later, he was marching down the hallway in a huff, wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. He had better things to do anyway.

Entering the nearest living room where he suspected Quatre had led his four friends to wait, he was not disappointed as five different pairs of eyes caught his entrance. Wait, five? Oh, Quatre was there, never mind.

"Hey," he greeted, arms crossed over his chest, staring at the four interlopers who had dared to make him get up.

"So Sleeping Beauty has finally decided to grace us with his presence," sneered Mueller.

"Shut it Mueller," Sylvia snapped. "We're not here to start up bullshit like that."

"So what are you here for?" Solo asked, hoping that his irritation was not showing. "You leaving soon or something?"

"Funny you should say that," Sylvia said dryly. "That's exactly what's going on."

"Yeah, and we came over to see you one more time," added Hilde. "By the way, can I also see Duo too?"

"Don't know, he's still asleep."

"Oh, busy night eh?"

"I don't think anybody wants to know that," muttered Alex.

"Too much information," Mueller agreed.

"Getting back on topic," Sylvia interrupted, "Can you guess the reason why we're here?"

"Is it about the stuff Mueller's been yelling about the last couple days?" Solo guessed.

"Hey!" Mueller objected.

"Something like that," Sylvia answered, ignoring Mueller. "To tell the truth, we're only here because Mueller dragged us along, screaming about how you haven't called and whatnot."

Solo blinked. "You mean," he said, "that's what this has all been about? I haven't talked to you over the phone and that's why you're pissed?"

"No, that's why Mueller's pissed," Sylvia clarified. "I came just to skip school."

"Me too!" Hilde chimed in.

"Well, I have to say that this trip of yours was a waste of time," Solo stated. "I didn't call you guys when I was back home."

Quatre stared at him incredulously, surprised at the admission, but remained silent.

"That's what I said but you know Mueller," Sylvia said.

"Christ Mueller," Solo groaned. "Don't you ever think?"

"Of course I do!" Mueller defended.

"Yeah, when it's about conspiracy theories and all that other bullshit," Solo snapped.

"At least I can think about things more important!" Mueller snarled. "You, I bet you can't even think further than how to get into that short kid's pants, assrammer."

"Want to repeat that?" Solo growled, fists clenched tightly.

"Why can't you just clamp up for once?" Hilde complained, whacking Mueller on the back of his head. "I didn't come all this way just to hear you two fight and I don't feel like leaving with bad memories. So kiss and make up or do whatever it is that guys do. I want to go home and I'm tired of sleeping in a motel!"

"Can't argue with that," Solo shrugged.

Mueller glared and was about to open his mouth to speak but was prevented when he was hit on the back of his head again, this time not by Hilde.

"What was that for?" he demanded as he turned his glare to the offender.

"You were gonna fuck up again and say something," Alex answered. "Don't say anything as long as we're still here, okay?" he continued just as Mueller was about to retort. Raising his hand up warningly, Mueller closed his mouth but continued to glower.

Returning his attention back to Sylvia, Solo asked, "What about you? You have anything more to say or that's it?"

"I see you haven't changed much," Sylvia commented wryly. "I guess then you're more straight to the point with these things still. Well, see you later, we gotta be leaving soon with _Hilde_ driving."

"So he still sucks at driving, eh?"

"He got us lost on our way here and I don't trust him to get me back in one piece."

"Always thinking of yourself, huh?"

"Damn straight."

"Aren't you gonna say good bye to me?" Hilde pouted.

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses. I'll get to you when I'm good and ready," Solo grumbled, turning away from Sylvia and towards the short haired girl. "You need me to take you by the hand and lead you to the car or something?"

Giggling, Hilde gave the blond a small hug. "You sure are lucky, having Duo at your beck and call," she said wistfully. "You better take care of him though, else I'll swipe him from you when you are looking!"

"I'll keep that in mind," Solo muttered, turning now towards Alex.

No words were needed between these two. Just simple nods of the head and all was understood.

Mueller, had already stomped off by then so Solo wasn't able to give him any final words, not that he cared anyway. It was just like old times…

"Guess I'll see you guys around," Solo said, standing back as the three remaining teens began to exit the room.

"Right," Sylvia replied sardonically, but leaving nonetheless.

The moment the coast was clear and both the Winners were sure that they were alone, Quatre piped up, "That was—"

"Not another word," Solo growled. "This thing is over and done with, yes that's how we act with each other, now let's just leave it as is and go about our business, okay? Does that answer all your questions?"

"For the time being," Quatre answered.

"Good," Solo said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back to bed. Don't wake me up if you value your life, okay?"

--

"Ezekiel? This is Raberba."

"_Hey! How's everything going?_"

"This isn't a friendly call, I'm afraid. I need you down here, stat."

"_Is it Solomon?_"

"No, it's not him. Romafellor is sending their representative and I'm going to need all the support I can get."

"_Right. I'm on my way._"

"When should I expect you?"

"_If I leave now, sometime later tonight._"

"I'll have a room prepared for you."

"_I'll talk to you when I get there, okay?_"

"Understood. Be careful when you're driving."

"_I will brother, I will._"


	40. This is your Father?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

This is your Father?

"The weather just had to clear up, didn't it?" Duo grumbled as they entered their first period classroom.

Having a whole day and a half of another school day canceled had been great but Mother Nature decided to be fickle and made this glorious Friday perfect. That meant no clouds, all sun, not even a gentle breeze, to make it clear to everyone that their free time was up.

"What, you prefer it to be flooding or something?" Solo asked.

"If it means staying in bed, then hell yeah," Duo muttered as he planted his face into his folded arms, trying vainly to catch just a couple more z's. Solo just shook his head at the braided one's antics in amusement.

While Duo had been in a foul mood all morning, Solo was still giddy about having that blackmail situation resolved. An incredible weight had been lifted from his shoulders, instilling within him all this energy that he just had to spend or bestow on somebody else, much to the woe of anybody who just happened to be nearby.

"What was with you anyway?" Duo demanded, his head still bowed onto his desk. "God, my ass is still sore…"

"You love it and you know it," Solo teased.

Having nothing to say to that, Duo just groaned about how tired he was, despite having gone to sleep early last night. Man, he was just so freakin' tired! He wouldn't change what they did yesterday for anything, though.

Eh? What was that sound? Sounds like the clacking that high heels make…and they were coming closer.

"Shit," Solo muttered under his breath. "It's the slut."

"Good morning to you too," Dorothy greeted dryly. "You think you could have said that quieter? Or better yet, not have said it all? That's a fine thing to say to the person who saved you after all."

"Well, what is it that you want?" Solo sighed, his cheery mood now spoiled. This girl had all the rotten timing…

"Maybe a date," Dorothy answered. "You know, to pay me back."

Solo just gave her a look.

"I thought so," Dorothy continued.

"You have no power over me," Solo stated. "Not this time, not next time, not any other time after this. Can't you just give it up?"

"Depends on your answer," Dorothy replied.

"Just answer her already!" Duo whined, his voice muffled.

"Fine," Solo sighed, patting Duo on the back. "You heard the guy, my answer is 'no' so stop asking me already, okay?"

"I seem to recall that you still owe me," Dorothy said aloud.

"If that's so, then is there anything else you might want? I'm not going to date you, I'm already taken and happily am so, so think of something else."

"Well, there is something you could do for me," Dorothy said. "I remember seeing a tall guy, I think his name was Alex. You think you could set me up with him?"

"You just gonna use him like all the others?"

"What makes you think that?"

Solo just looked at her.

"Okay, you have justification for that. But there's something different about this one. I swear to you, I've only met him once but there's just something about him that draws me. I would really appreciate it if you could help me out."

Solo continued to look at her skeptically before replying, "You better be sure you're not playing your games with him. He's not the type that's gonna let just anybody walk all over him. Just because he can't hit you cause you're a girl doesn't mean he won't find some other way to beat the piss out of you. Still sure you wanna go through with this?"

"While your concern for my welfare is appreciated, I'm positive about this," Dorothy answered steadfastly.

Solo eyed her before ripping off a piece a paper and writing down a phone number. "You can call him with that," he said as he handed the paper to her. "Now shoo, you're interrupting my quality time."

"Whatever you say," Dorothy said, a small smile gracing her face as she left.

"And you make fun of Q for being a matchmaker," Duo drawled, lifting his head up. "So, what was all that she was talking about? I'm just _dying_ to know."

"I'll tell you all about it later," Solo told him. "I don't think this is the time and place to be talking about such things."

"And when has that ever stopped you before?"

"Just now. Now be quiet, teach is coming in. We gotta _learn_ now."

Duo only snorted as he sat up straighter.

--

"Damn English teacher," Solo swore as they left the school building that day. "Why'd she have to make us do an essay anyway? And what was that 'and don't try to bullshit your way through it' anyway?"

"Maybe she expects us to do the work; did that ever cross your mind?" Duo asked dryly.

"It's still too much to ask for," Solo grumbled as he crossed his arms. "I have better things to do than work on a damn essay."

"Senioritis hitting you hard, huh?"

"Senioritis? What's that?"

"Something only High School seniors get. You see, since it's their last year and all, they get the sudden urge to slack off even more than usual."

"It's an excuse to be lazy?"

"You got it."

"Damn, I've had that since the first grade."

"It's a wonder you've gotten as far as you have, isn't it?"

Bantering with one another, they were still caught up in it when they finally arrived back at the Winner estate. The sight of another car in the driveway was enough to cut through their debate, the two long haired teens staring at the vehicle curiously.

"That looks like my dad's car," Solo finally said after a few minutes of scrutiny.

"What's your old man doing here anyway?" Duo wondered aloud.

"Don't know," Solo answered, stumped.

Glancing at the blond slyly, Duo said, "I guess it's time for one of those 'meet the parents' moments huh?"

Looking down at the braided one, Solo grinned. "I guess so. Now all we need is to set one up with yours and we'll have a sequel."

Duo's good mood was instantly soured and he looked away hastily. The normally cheery violet eyes held a miserable light in them, one that Duo sought to hide, not wanting show how deep the unintended barb had cut into him. Damn it, he needed to get his act into order!

Making an effort to keep his voice from cracking, he replied, "Then lead on, lover boy. We can't stay out here all day, you know."

He must have done a good job since Solo didn't seem to notice anything. Hey, he could be a good actor when he wanted to be! It's just that things had been out of control a bit over the past couple weeks. He had to get back into control again, get a hold of the old routine. This was just Solo's father. He wasn't anything like his own deadbeat parental figure. He had to be since he was Quatre's father's brother for Christ's sake!

"Hey dad."

Duo jerked back into reality, unaware that he had gotten lost in his own thoughts and was inside the mansion as well. Beyond his notice, they were in one of the living rooms, Mr. Winner and an unfamiliar guest sitting on a couch. The guest bore a great resemblance to Mr. Winner except that he was noticeably younger looking and possessed the same green eyes that Solo had.

So this was his dad, Solomon's father…

He could actually see some similarities between the man and Solo. However, there weren't enough similarities that one could positively identify the two as related. Maybe Solo inherited more from his mother than his father. According to Howard and the others, he, Duo, resembled his mother more than his father. It could just be that the same held true in this case as well.

Solo looked impassive as he watched his father. Duo couldn't help but think that his boyfriend should have been at least more expressive than he was currently. This was his father, his family! Didn't families love one another or something like that?

"Hello Solomon," Solo's father greeted in return, a small smile on his face. "It's good to see you again. I hope you haven't been causing too much trouble…"

"I've been behaving myself," Solo stated, crossing his arms.

"That's good," Solo's father said hesitantly.

It was obvious that the guy didn't seem to know what to do. It was even obvious to Duo that he was like a fish out of water. Solo was how old? And this guy still didn't know how to communicate with him? Geez, talk about misplaced priorities.

"So…have you made any new friends?" the man asked hesitantly, as if he was unsure what to say.

"I've made a few," Solo answered before stepping to a side to reveal Duo fully. "Here's one of them, Duo Maxwell. Duo, this is my dad, Ezekiel Winner."

"It's nice to meet you," Ezekiel said, his confidence obviously lacking.

"Same here," Duo picked up. "It's nice to actually meet Solo's family."

"You still go by that name, huh?" Ezekiel asked, turning back to Solo.

"Yeah, what of it?" Solo said. Uncrossing his arms, he snaked one around Duo's waist and pulled the braided one up against him in a silent statement.

Ezekiel smiled shakily. "I guess you have a relationship with each other, huh?"

"You guess?" Solo repeated.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Ezekiel asked awkwardly, out of his element entirely.

"More than sure," Solo said, not even blinking.

"As long as you're happy," Ezekiel said uneasily. The poor schmuck really did look like he rather be somewhere else. Duo couldn't help but feel pity for him yet it all just seemed unreal. Solo was related to _this_ guy? They were complete opposites! If he hadn't known better, he would have thought that Mr. Winner was Solo's father instead of this guy. This Ezekiel guy was a joke! He had to be. There was no other explanation for it.

At this point, Mr. Winner injected himself into the conversation. "Solomon, your father is going to be staying with us for a bit. His presence is required for something extremely sensitive at the company. I want for you to be on your very best behavior. That means no getting into fights at school or anything of the like, understand? I'm telling you right now, if you screw up just once, you are out of here. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," Solo answered.

"The same goes for you too, Duo," Mr. Winner continued. "Do you also understand?"

"Crystal," Duo said.

"As long as we understand each other," Mr. Winner concluded. "Now, go off and do whatever it is you kids do these days. Just try to make yourselves scarce tomorrow. We are having another guest stopping by and his business is very important."

"Got it," Solo said. Without another word, he led during away from the two men and towards the bedrooms. The two teens remained quiet the entire way, not speaking until after they had closeted themselves in Solo's room where the blond proceeded in collapsing onto his bed bonelessly.

"So," Duo began, "that was your dad, huh?"

"Yep," Solo confirmed, staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you sure?" Duo asked.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"You and your dad…well…you guys don't seem to…I don't know…"

"C'mon, spit it out."

"You guys just seem so different! It's like you were complete strangers or something!" Duo exclaimed.

Solo raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"It's just that," Duo began before exhaling the air from his mouth out in exasperation, causing his lips to flop. "I don't know what I was expecting," he sighed finally. "It's just that you're just so…dominating I guess and he's…he's a wimp! You just walked all over him and he didn't do _anything_!"

"He's always been like that," Solo replied, waving the matter away as if it meant nothing. "What does it matter anyway?"

"I don't know. Maybe 'like father, like son'? Something like that. I just was expecting something completely different from your old man, that's all."

"Sorry to disappoint," Solo said sarcastically. "Why's it important anyway? What does it matter?"

"Just, how did someone like you come from somebody like that? Please, my mind won't let it go!" Duo exclaimed.

"He let me run wild when I was younger," Solo shrugged. "I guess you could say that was how I got involved with Mueller and the others. He didn't start paying attention to me until I started getting myself in trouble. Does that answer your question? Does it put your mind at ease?"

"Maybe," Duo muttered.

Solo's eyes narrowed. "C'mere."

"Huh? What?"

"Come over here."

"Why? Is there something on my face or something?"

"Would you just come over here already? Don't make me get up."

Frowning, Duo made his way over to the prone blond. "What are you up to?"

Then, Solo's hand shot up and grabbed the braided one's wrist, pulling the surprised teen down and rolling them over so that the blond was now on top.

"Has anyone ever told you that you ask too many questions?" Solo purred from above, his green eyes half lidded and peering down at Duo sultrily.

Duo recognized this look. He had seen it more than enough times to know what it meant. With his body pinned down, there was no escape for the captive teen. Once again, he was at the mercy of this overbearing blond and subject to his every whim.

Kinda like he always was even when he wasn't pinned down…

"Well, actually this is a first," Duo admitted, never taking his eyes off the blond.

"So either you ask just the right amount or you ask too little," Solo commented. "Maybe we should encourage you to ask more, shall we?"

"What do you plan to do?" he asked.

"Just wait and see," Solo growled playfully before descending and capturing Duo's lips.


	41. In Pursuit of Happiness

Author's Note: Lately, I have just not been in the mood to write. Call it lack of motivation or just plain laziness or maybe something else, I don't know what's up. Fortunately for everybody, I already have several chapters ready to be released at my discretion in case something like this were to happen. Do not fret, I should get my urge to write back but until then just expect weekly updates. Without further ado, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

In Pursuit of Happiness

As he awoke from blissful sleep, Duo's face scrunched up, as if disgusted with the entire world around him. His mind overcoming the last hurdle to cruel consciousness, his jaw cracked audibly as an enormous yawn tore its way out of the dark cavern. Raising a hand up, he used the back of the appendage to clear the grittiness that was the gunk in his eyes before opening them and blinking owlishly as the world around him slowly transformed from fuzzy colors to solid shapes.

Once his vision focused some more, he planted the side of his head back into the soft pillows that had been comforting it all throughout the night. It was the weekend for Christ's sake! What was he doing…oh, it was morning already. Never mind.

Huh. Not that it was an odd occurrence but Duo noticed that he was still in his clothes from yesterday, having forgotten to take them off. It was funny, really. He thought he was going to be getting some nookie yesterday and ended up with squat except Solo making him horny as hell and then just stopping for no reason whatsoever.

He was probably trying to get some sort of twisted payback or something for all those questions he was asking about his father.

Speaking of his personnel human furnace, the guy was snuggled right up into him, still in the midst of sleep and probably not having an exciting dream of any kind. Yeah, he would know if the blond was but since nothing was poking into him, it had to be tame or something or whatever Solo considered to be unexciting.

It was at this point that Duo wanted to get up and out of bed, something highly unusual for him. However, somebody just happened to have their arms around him and was holding him tightly up against their self, the selfish bastard. Well, he certainly knew how to change this.

Without preamble, he lifted his hand up and flicked Solo on his nose.

The blond's face scrunched up cutely with eyelids squeezing tightly before relaxing and opening slowly, revealing the green eyes once covered by the sliding pieces of skin. A sleepy smile slowly curved the lips on the teens face, completing the look started by the half-lidded, cloudy eyes.

"Was it as good for you as it was me?" Solo asked, his expression not changing for even a second.

"Sorry Charlie," Duo said. "Still have clothes on and if I recall right, you didn't get past second base, I think."

"Aww," Solo whined. The smile he had on then turned to a more perverse one. "Think we could catch up on lost time?" he suggested, completely serious despite not looking a bit like it.

"Not in the mood," Duo told him. "Now, can ya let me go? I wanna get up."

"But I don't want to!" Solo complained childishly, tightening his embrace on the braided one.

"C'mon, let go!" Duo commanded in an equally childish voice.

"Don't wanna!" Solo retaliated.

"But Solo!" Duo whined. "I wanna get up!"

"Why do you wanna get up?" Solo demanded.

"I wanna do something!" Duo answered.

"Like what?"

Without warning, Duo's hand returned and flicked the blond's nose once again. In response, Solo's face scrunched up cutely again and a hand moved itself to hover over the abuse part of his face. Seizing the opportunity, Duo squirmed out of the one arm embrace and was at the bedroom door before Solo was able to comprehend it.

"I wanna play a game," Duo said earnestly, "and you're it."

With that, the braided one was gone.

Solo blinked at the door before an amused smile crept out.

So that was how he wanted to play it, huh?

Well, the pleasure in a hunt was always in the chase…

--

Ezekiel stood in front of his brother's home, standing regally at the front doors as the limo pulled up in front.

Normally, Ezekiel was a timid sort of man, he didn't like being in the position of responsibility or having every single thing depend on him when it counted most. However, when it came to his job as head of the electronics and technologies branch of WEI, he was the complete opposite, nearly an identical duplicate of his more commanding older brother.

When it all came down to it, he took his turn and settled things. However, the man that he was about to greet was no ordinary visitor to the Winner Estate.

This particular visitor was the chosen representative of the Romafellor Corporation, the Winner's main competitor and rival on the international market, here today to discuss and negotiate Romafellor's unprecedented offer to form an international trust.

It was business, pure and simple, and since Raberba was in charge of everything, it would be him who would handle this.

Ezekiel eyed the Romafellor rep with disdain as the burly man exited his limousine. He was quite tall, his face not pretty to look at with all those facial wrinkles and whatnot. Then there was the long, shoulder-length, mousy-colored hair that stood out of place on the man, something that screamed out to Ezekiel like he had seen something like it before. Rich clothing completed the image that the beauty deprived man was trying to project and judging by the finery, he was obviously Romafellor material, no doubt about it.

"Good day," the man greeted, his voice gruff.

"Same to you," Ezekiel replied. "If you'll follow me, we can get this meeting underway."

"By all means," the man said, gesturing for him to go ahead.

Ezekiel didn't like him. There was something about this man that just wasn't right. But what could it be? Looks aside, he didn't seem like the type that would be capable of doing horrendous actions. So what was it?

Long ago, Ezekiel had learned to go with his gut and his gut was screaming at him that something was not right about this man, whoever he was. Still, he knew it was useless to try and figure it out by himself. He didn't even know him for Christ's sake!

"This is a mighty fine place you have here," the man commented, obviously envious of the Winners' home.

"It's been in the family for generations," Ezekiel said stiffly.

"You don't say," the man said, eyes darting to and fro. "My, what I wouldn't give to live in a place like this."

"You're not the only one," Ezekiel muttered under his breath so that the man didn't hear him.

Stopping in front of Raberba's study, he knocked on the door. It was more just for etiquette than anything else, plus he didn't want to give the man from Romafellor any ideas, if any could be taken from some such an action.

Immediately the door opened, Raberba Winner standing there in all his effortless presence and glory, eyes stern as they landed on the representative from Romafellor.

"You must be Raberba Winner, if I'm not mistaken," the man said, holding out a large hand.

"You would be correct," Raberba replied, taking the offered hand and giving it a shake. "We have been expecting you, Mister…?"

"Dmitri Tsubarov," the man introduced himself.

Ezekiel kept his surprise hidden as he saw his brother's eyes narrow. It seemed as if his brother knew or had heard of this man before. Perhaps his gut instinct from earlier had some merit after all.

"I believe you have met my brother, Ezekiel," Raberba continued. "I hope you don't mind that he will be sitting in with us today."

"Oh not at all," Tsubarov said. "Say, you wouldn't happen to have something to drink around here, do you?"

"I'm sure we can find something," Raberba answered with a hint of disdain in his voice, something that this Tsubarov clearly missed.

--

In order to hunt properly, a certain finesse was needed.

Patience was more than just required, it was a necessity.

Fortunately for Solo, he had both of these. Well, maybe not the patience unless the situation required it, such as this one. Otherwise, he had all that was needed in order to hunt down his elusive quarry who had thus far led him outside the mansion.

This wasn't good. It was wide open out here and he would be easy to spot from wherever Duo had hidden himself. Then again, there weren't many places to hide outside, which limited the area of where Duo was potentially hiding. He wondered briefly what his reward would be if he did manage to find and catch the braided one. Hopefully it would be something good, something worth his while…heh heh…

"Oh Short Stuff," he called out sweetly. "Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Huh, well that produced nothing. But maybe it was for the best. If it was easy then it would be too boring.

Damn, where was he? They'd been playing around like this for a few hours already and he had yet to have breakfast. At this rate, he would have to forget about that first meal of the day and start thinking about lunch since he was not going to throw in the towel until he got his hands on his Duo.

Checking around the patio, he continued to speak. "You can't hide from me forever. You're going to have to come out some time. So why don't you save us some grief and come on out? I'm gonna find you no matter what so you might as well end this right now…"

Just as he expected: nothing. So it was going to the hard way, huh? Well, as that Roman guy once said, "The die is cast."

But enough of that crap. First thing was first. Find Duo and then he could inflict whatever punishment he wanted on the unsuspected guy.

It was more than enough to make his mouth water…

It would be these thoughts that would motivate him to continue his pursuit for the next hour and a half. He had probably gone around the place two times by now when he caught the sound of something snapping, most likely a twig. He froze his body immediately, his eyes darting from side to side, looking for the origin of the sound.

There!

If he hadn't been looking for it, he would have missed it. Flickering through the shade was a small dark figure. Intense scrutiny allowed his to catch sight of a flash of chestnut, the same color of a certain braid that belonged to the very person he was hunting.

Bingo.

Crouching as low to the ground as he possibly could, he resembled a green eyed panther, his body frozen in preparation of a lunge that would capture his prey in an inescapable embrace. He could hardly wait.

He was giddy with anticipation as Duo peeked out of hiding warily, searching for any sign of his blond pursuer. Oh, this was getting better and better. The guy was fully out in the open and unknowingly heading towards him. In another minute, he would be on top of him.

"Got ya," he whispered.

Perhaps he shouldn't have done that. He had thought he had spoken quietly enough that he wasn't heard but he was sadly mistaken. Apparently, it had been loud enough that Duo had caught it. From where he was, Solo could see those violet eyes widen in an "Oh shit!" look.

In the next second, Duo had turned tail and was running from the hills, trying to get away from Solo as he possibly could. As if Solo was going to let this chance get away from him. In another split second, Solo was chasing after the fleeing teen. He took ruthless advantage of his height, which included long legs, to catch up to the vertically-challenged braided one.

He was close, so close, that braid of Duo's just within his grasp when Duo took a sudden sharp turn, causing the blond to shoot straight pass him.

"Shit!" Solo swore and he stopped his running, his feet skidding as he sought to stop himself. Using his hips to take the strain, he jerked them in the direction he wanted to go in, namely straight towards Duo who was still escaping, and was off again, closing the distance between himself and Duo.

He couldn't help it but there was a grin on his face. He was even breathing hard, sweating like no tomorrow, and hadn't had a single thing to eat yet he was having the time of his life.

Oh hell no. Duo was heading back to the house. Aided again by the inside maze, it would take hours once again to track him down. He was not going to let that happen, no way, no how. He had been denied for too long and would not be denied any longer.

Crap, he just took another sharp turn. He wouldn't get him with that move this time. Holy shit! He almost hit that goddamn tree! That was pretty clever of Duo, faking him with a right then going left. Oh he was going to pay for that. Lucky for him, Duo wasn't heading towards the patio. He was heading around to the side of the house. What was he heading for, the front door? Didn't matter to Solo since he was sure he could catch up to him before them.

And he was doing good too, catching up with him that is. In fact, he was probably twenty feet away from Duo when the braided one turned the corner and headed straight to the front.

This was going to be tight.

He had to tilt his running body and squeeze around the corner, just barely scrapping his forehead against the brick and mortar of the house as he made the turn…

And nearly collided with the back of his prey.

Well damn, he must be getting pretty fast or something. Maybe he could try out for the cross country team or something.

"Got ya!" he proclaimed, wrapping his arms securely around Duo.

It was only then that he noticed how tense and stiff Duo was.

Whoa, that was a drastic change from this morning. Was something wrong?

Looking up from Duo, he finally noticed that they had a spectator, a very big and ugly spectator. A spectator with little eyes that were eyeing Duo in a way that Solo didn't like. It kinda reminded him of one of those child molesters for some reason.

Duo's face was impassive, no emotions whatsoever giving away what he could possibly be thinking.

The man before them grunted. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I live here now, no thanks to you," Duo stated, barely contained anger gnawing at him.

Slowly, Solo dislodged himself from Duo and took a step back. Something was going on here, of that he was certain. He just didn't know what.

The man chuckled and shook his head, glancing back at the Winner Estate once more before turning his attention back to Duo. "It seems I underestimated you," he said. "You've done well for yourself. Better than I thought you ever would. So how did you do it? Are you putting out for that kid behind you or something?"

"Leave him out of this," Duo growled.

"Feisty," the man commented, dark eyes sparkling maliciously. "For a moment, you almost reminded me of—"

"Don't you say another word," Duo hissed.

"And what are you going to do about it?" the man taunted. "What have you ever done with your life? You might as well go into the business that spawned you. Yet, I think I can still salvage something from you. Tell you what, why don't you give me a call sometime and we can have lunch. Discuss your future prospects, that kind of thing."

"I'd rather vomit," Duo seethed.

"Eh, you can't say I didn't try," the man shrugged. "Still, call me if you have a change of heart, heh heh heh."

Duo continued to glare after the man as he got into his ride and left. Now that Solo had a good look at him, he noticed Duo was shaking with barely suppressed fury. He had never seen Duo like this before, not even when he took on Wufei.

So, cautiously, he asked, "Who was that? You know him?"

Duo continued to seethe, not answering for what seemed like an hour but what probably only a few minutes. When he finally did, his voice was bitter and harsh with the negative emotions that he was now visibly projecting.

"That was Dmitri Tsubarov," he said. "Once upon a time, he picked up a prostitute and got her pregnant. I was the result."

Solo's eyes began to widen. "You mean that guy is—"

"You are correct," Duo cut off. "You just met my most favorite person in the world. My father."


	42. There's a Stranger in your Eyes

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, violence, shounen ai

There's a Stranger in your Eyes

Having had spent the night at Trowa's, Quatre found himself walking down the driveway of his home, enjoying the cool air that had graced him. He took in the sight of the multicolored leaves in the trees, signifying that autumn had arrived and was here to stay. He had a mental note to track down his winter clothes so he wouldn't be caught off guard by a sudden cold front, the foot soldier of winter.

It was quite a beautiful day today. The sky was blue, barely a cloud in sight to cover the sun at all. Hence that was why he was out walking instead of being driven up to the front door.

Just as he entered the inner sanctum of the Winner family, he found himself accosted by an unusual sight. Solo had jumped him from out of nowhere but what was most peculiar was that his cousin looked quite distressed.

"Have you seen Duo?" the larger blond demanded, hands gripping the smaller blond's shoulders tightly.

Quatre frowned. "Isn't he here?"

"I can't find him anywhere!" Solo exclaimed as he released him and began to pace. "One minute he was here, the next he's gone and no one has seen him around. I was hoping you had run into him or saw him or something."

Wow. This was really getting to him. Solo really looked like he was about to hyperventilate and breakdown.

"Did something happen between you two?" Quatre asked, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

"No, nothing happened between us!" Solo stated, a hand tangling itself in his long, blond hair.

"Did something else happen that might've set him off?" Quatre asked.

"No, I don't think…so…" Solo grew quiet, as if something had struck him. "Wait, there was somebody here. I think Duo said it was his father."

"What?!" Quatre sputtered. "His father?! Are you sure you heard him correctly?"

"Positive," Solo answered. "He got all cold like he does whenever somebody talks about his dad."

Frowning, Quatre inquired, "If you're that sure, then what was Duo's father doing here in the first place?"

"Maybe it has something to do with my dad?" Solo said aloud.

"Your dad?"

"Yeah, he showed up yesterday and then your dad said I had to be on my best behavior for some reason."

Slowly, the pieces of this puzzle were beginning to click together in Quatre's mind. First, Solo's father shows up without warning, then his own father tells Solo to behave himself, and then Duo's father shows up for some unknown reason. Coincidence? Quatre thought not.

There was only one person who could shed any light on this mystery and Quatre was sure that his father was that person.

"I think we need to have a talk with my father," Quatre told Solo. "I think he might know something about this."

--

The two teens held their ground as they stood before the imposing figure of Raberba Winner, said man observing them impassively from his desk. Solo noted distractingly that his own father, Ezekiel, was off to a side, an uncharacteristic stone expression on his face.

After having gained permission to enter the study, Quatre had demanded, without fanfare, if his uncle had any idea of what was going on. Solo just stood by his cousin's side, arms crossed, trying to emit a foreboding presence. Whether it was working or not, the blond didn't know nor did he care.

His uncle hadn't said a word yet, preferring to draw out the silence, as if trying to intimidate them. Whether that was working or not, Solo could positively say that it wasn't.

"What makes you think I know anything about this?" his uncle finally said, breaking the tense silence.

"You know everything that goes on in this house," Quatre stated, not willing to back down.

"Honestly, I don't know why Duo is absent," his uncle replied.

"Do either of you have an idea why your friend vanished?" his father asked.

"It happened sometime after he met up with his dad," Solo answered. The blond paused upon seeing the startled reaction from his uncle.

"Could you repeat that?" the man demanded.

"I met Duo's father outside. Duo just suddenly when all ice on me," Solo told him.

"Damn it," the man swore.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" Quatre stated.

'

"I knew Duo's father was on the premise," Raberba answered. "He was here for some business negotiations. Where exactly were you when Duo went 'all ice' on you?"

"We were in front yard; the guy was leaving," Solo said.

"And what were you doing in the front yard?" Raberba asked.

"Does that really matter?" Solo snapped. "We were keeping out of the way; we weren't causing any trouble. The thing just happened, alright? It wasn't like we were trying to make a mess."

"I understand that," Raberba cut in. "Even though it wasn't intended, the meeting still happened. I think it would be safe to say that Duo isn't on the premise, wouldn't you?"

"But we live on a lot of land," Quatre argued.

"Most of which he is unfamiliar with," Raberba countered. "Chances are he's in the city, somewhere. He probably went somewhere he's familiar with to clear his mind."

Solo's eyes brightened. Why hadn't he thought of that? He had to get out there and start looking! But where could he start? Despite spending so much time with Duo, he still didn't know a lot about him. Just when he thought they were getting somewhere too…

Despite this fact, Solo had nonetheless turned tail and left the study, heading straight to his bedroom. It wasn't that he though Duo might be hiding out there; it was because he left his car keys there. He'd be able to cover more ground in his car than he would be able to on foot.

He heard footsteps following after him, alerting the blond that he wasn't alone but he proceeded to ignore his companion in favor of the task ahead of him.

"Do you know where Duo is?" he heard the soft voice of his concerned cousin from behind, revealing who it was that was following his footsteps.

"No," he answered bluntly, "but that doesn't mean I'm not going out there to find him."

"Oh." It was obvious from the sound of Quatre's voice that the smaller blond was disappointed in Solo's response.

"Call Trowa," Solo advised. "Try and call Duo's other friends, see if there's any places they know of that Duo might be."

Quatre frowned at that. "But Duo doesn't have any other friends."

"What about Howard?" Solo asked.

"I don't know how to contact him," Quatre answered.

"Fuck!" Solo cursed. Looks like they wouldn't have any help from that quarter. Even though the odds were against them, he was still going out. "Stay here and call me if he shows up," he told the smaller blond, arriving at his bedroom and dashing in to find his keys.

Solo shoved past the blond as soon as he had grab the jangling pieces of metal the moment it looked like Quatre was going to argue with him. He didn't have time for this; the longer they sat here, the further away Duo got, the smaller the chance they would have of finding him. Using his longer legs to his advantage, he physically distanced himself from Quatre, ignoring anything the blond might say or try to do.

By the time Quatre had caught up with him, he was already in his car and pulling out of the garage, heading straight for the front gates and the city beyond.

--

It was evening and the sunset was quite spectacular to anybody who happened to be paying attention to it.

Duo Maxwell was one of the many people who wasn't paying any attention to it, preferring instead to wallow in his own miserable thoughts as he trudged down the sidewalk, not paying any attention to his surroundings. He didn't really care to tell the truth, his thoughts dark and filled with morose contemplations.

It would just be like his father to rain on his parade, to come blundering into his life and wreck it all just with his very presence alone. How was it that that bastard had that ability to ruin his day, no his life, just by showing up uninvited? What did that say about him, Duo?

He could care less about anything else. At the moment, he just wanted to beat the crap out of something or someone, whichever came first.

"Well lookie here. What's a cutie like you doing in a place like this?"

Well hello. Looks like he ran into a small group of unlucky someones first. Not like it really mattered. He was in the poorer side of the city, the five or so thugs that had snuck up on him from behind being the prime representatives of this place. They weren't the cleanest individuals, their clothes used to the point there were holes in them, their hygiene being something to be desired.

All in all, if he was to severely beat the crap out of these suckers, no one would care. He blinked his violet eyes impassively as he turned around completely to face his soon-to-be punching bags. He was in no mood to be hassled right now.

"You're quite the looker, ain't ya?" one of the goons said.

"Why don't ya come with us?" another suggested. "It ain't safe around here. We's can protect ya and maybe you could give us something in return, huh?"

Duo couldn't help but warn these guys off. Hey, better to give these guys the chance to leave before something they would regret happened.

"No thanks," he stated. "As much as your offer is tempting, I'm not in the mood. How about you guys just scurry off now."

"Holy shit, it's a fairy!" one of them cried aloud. "This ain't no chick! It's a guy!"

"Took you long enough," Duo snorted under his breath.

"How 'bout we teach this queer a lesson?" one said, cracking his knuckles. "Show him that his kind ain't welcomed here."

"Right on!"

Smirking, Duo said not a word. He would no longer be responsible for his actions from this point on.

At least, that's what he told himself.

In a typical display of animalistic predatorism, they surrounded Duo, pulling out switchblades or picking up a random two-by-four that happened to be nearby. Duo didn't pay any of that any mind. His mind was solely focused on what was to come.

Typically, it was the one that had moved behind him that struck first, wielding the two-by-four mention from before, swinging it downwards, aiming for the braided one's head. Hearing the pounding footsteps, Duo twisted himself and dodged the piece of wood, darting behind the attacker. Duo impacted both of his fists into the punk's ribs, stunning him. Thrusting his knee between the punk's legs, he threw it upwards into the groin. As the others were running at him, he shoved his first victim into the first knife-wielding thug coming at him.

"Fuck!" the thug cried out, causing the others to stop their charge.

"What is it?" one snapped.

"I fuckin' stabbed Billy!" the thug cried, pushing Duo's first victim away, blood gleaming from the knife.

"You guys aren't pussing out on me, are ya?" Duo taunted.

"Let's show this fucker who he's messing with!" was his response.

Duo smirked wickedly as the charge resumed. He danced back as a knife-wielder slashed at him. Balancing on a foot, Duo spun and performed a roundhouse kick on his would-be assailant's head. As the guy stumbled to a side, Duo leapt back, performing a backflip and landing on both feet before shoving his feet into the solid concrete beneath him and ramming his shoulder into the nearest attacker.

What happened next was a panorama of confusion that could only have belonged in a Jackie Chan movie as Duo dove into the middle of his attackers, his fists punching out and feet kicking out, the braided one using the thugs as weapons of his own and objects to use as launching pads for his own attacks. One punch in the jaw here caused some teeth to be spewed out; a kick there broke the blade of a switchblade off. He forced a thug to bend forward in a ninety-degree angle and rolled over his back to land a kick in a thug's gut then swung his foot back to slam into the bent teen's face.

His vision took a reddish tint as he put all his concentration in beating the shit out of these idiots. His anger blinded him from seeing the blood that now was speckled on him and clouded his awareness of the fact that he had picked up the abandoned two-by-four and was wielding it with a malevolent efficiency.

Years of repression and anger were just being released with every blow he landed on his thoroughly defeated enemies but Duo was far from finished with them. Not even the telltale sound of wood snapping and breaking stopped him as he resorted back to using his hands and feet again.

Suddenly, the loud shriek of a car horn invaded his anger-clouded mind and his violet eyes snapped over to a car that had stopped nearby, headlights glaring straight at him, the driver standing out of the car with the door forming a shield between him and the human being, an arm still residing in the car's cab. Duo glared at the intruder; if this guy made one false move, he would join in on his massacre whether he wanted to or not…

--

Tentatively, Solo stepped away from the safety that his car provided him and slowly approached the creature that inhabited the body of his Duo. He hadn't believed it when he saw it but now that he was within twenty feet of it, he had to acknowledge it.

He would have never thought he would have ever seen his boyfriend beating the shit out of a group of bystanders like this. It was almost as if he had never seen Duo before. Those wild eyes were also pretty unnerving to the blond Winner. It truly wouldn't be far from the truth to say that this person in front of him was a stranger.

Duo needed help and he needed it badly and only Solo could probably give him the brand that he needed. Now if only he could get to Duo without receiving too much physical harm…

"Duo," he called out, slowly closing the distance between the hostile teen and himself, approaching him like he was a wild animal. "What is this?"

Duo's eyes only narrowed as they continued to watch him. The closer Solo came, the more details he was able to make out, the more shocked he became. Despite all the blood and horror around, he steeled his resolve and found himself within five feet of Duo whose body was so visibly tense that if the braided teen was an instrument, he would be able to string out a rock ballad.

"Duo? What's wrong?" he asked quietly, sure that Duo heard him. As Duo frowned, Solo took the opportunity to rush up to him and capturing him in a tight embrace. Duo thrashed in his arms like a wild animal but Solo didn't relinquish him, just merely tightening his embrace with all the strength he had. "Duo! Calm down!" he ordered, his command being ignored.

At the enormity of what he was about to do next, Solo closed his eyes and murmured, "Forgive me…"

Pushing Duo away from him, he quickly pulled a hand back gave the wild teen a slap to the face. It surprised Solo when he felt a well of pain in his gut at his action. Perhaps there was something to that adage "this is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you…"

Duo blinked in shock and slowly raised a hand to gingerly touch the redness that had swelled onto his cheek. Solo could see with relief that the civility that had left Duo through his violet eyes. Truly eyes were the windows to the soul.

"Solo?" Duo whispered uncertainly as he came back to himself, sounding lost and afraid.

This time when Solo embraced him, Duo did not fight it but instead melted into it, as if trying to melt into Solo himself.

Rubbing the braided one's back soothingly, Solo held on to him tightly, extending whatever comfort he could to the teen who was slowly loosing it. Taking one look at the damage, he determined that his first priority was to get Duo out and as far as away from this site as he possibly could.

It took little urging as he led the braided one back to his car like a child.


	43. The Truth of Duo Maxwell

Author's Note: Title should tell you everything of what this chapter's about, but in case it doesn't, all I'm going to say is that it's going to answer some questions you've all undoubtedly had since the first chapter of this fic. But if it doesn't and only raises more question…well I can't help you there, yet. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, angst, shounen ai

The Truth of Duo Maxwell

The drive back to the mansion had been silent, utterly silent. Duo stared off into space, zoned out completely as his mind sought to shut itself down and go on autopilot. That was all good and fine with him since he really didn't want to be where he was.

He just wanted to curl up and fade away, immune to all the chaos and turmoil that this world had only offered him since he was born. Yeah, it would be neat if he could just vanish, never to be heard from again…yeah…

He must have blanked out or something since the next thing he knew, he was sitting on a toilet seat in Solo's private bathroom, said blond wiping away all traces of blood off of him. With the way Solo was working, Duo supposed that the guy had a lot of experience cleaning himself off. He bathed in the light of concern that those green eyes of Solo's were projecting, the gentle and practiced swipes of a wet towel cleaning his face of all blood that had found its way there. No spot was missed, not even the backs of his ears for some reason though he doubted that anything could've gotten behind those.

With a gentle tug on his arm, he was led back into the bedroom where Solo proceeded in undressing him of his dirtied garments and replacing them with some sweats and a night shirt. The moment he was clothed, he found himself enveloped in a tight bear hug, Solo seemingly not wanting to let go of him anytime soon. To tell the truth, Duo let himself accept the affectionate gesture. He couldn't, no wouldn't, ever get enough of it. Hey, that was an idea. What if he could fuse himself into Solo? Nah, bad idea. Too science fiction.

"Duo," Solo said into his braided hair. "Duo, I want to know."

Know? What did he want to know? What did he mean about that?

"I want to know everything," Solo continued. "I want to help you with this but I can't if I don't know what's going on. Talk to me, please?"

He blinked owlishly. Help? Solo wanted to help him? With what? What was there that he could possibly do to help?

"There others are also worried," Solo said. "My uncle, Q, even my dad. Trowa's also here. We're all worried about you Duo."

Well that was new. An entire group of people were worried about him. He could laugh if he knew what to laugh at. What would he laugh at anyway? The fact that he truly was his father's son? Well, that was as good a place to start.

"C'mon Duo, talk to me," Solo begged, turning him around so that those green jewels could plead into his violet ones. "Won't you say anything? Please?"

Wow, who knew Solo had it in him? The guy was actually begging him. He never thought he would ever live to see something like this. It really put into perspective how much power he actually had over this guy.

Solo's face was a portrait of desperation as he silently pleaded with him. Such a display didn't last long as soon Solo's features hardened in determination. Then Duo felt nothing but heat as Solo devoured his lips in a heated kiss, tongue invading his mouth and everything. His mind went absolutely blank as human desire overwhelmed him and he began to respond, his hands grabbing and clutching onto the blond's broad shoulders.

Solo's obvious skill and experience came to the forefront once again as Duo allowed himself to be taken along on this wave of pleasure, the ride sadly ending as the blond pulled away so that his eyes could bore into him.

"Duo…" Solo breathed.

Just like that, as if that one word was the key to releasing all the pent up emotions inside the braided one, the meaning of everything that had taken place on this ill-fated day, all the actions that he had committed, their enormity, their meaning, finally hit him. With the dam gone, he buried his face into Solo's shoulder and began to cry.

He was blubbering, he couldn't lie and deny that. He felt the arms that held and supported him tighten, the body that he was pressed up against begin to rock from side to side, and rough hands that only he knew that could express affection rub his back, trying to gently soothe his hysterics.

"It's going to be all right," Solo murmured, "everything is going to be just peachy. Calm down, everything's okay. Get it together, okay?"

Duo continued to crush his face into the larger teen's shoulder. There was a sense of déjà vu about this. The tears soaking into the shirt in front of him, snot leaking out of his nose like a river, Solo holding him up against him, letting him cry out all of his sorrows. If he didn't know any better, this was almost like that time in the nurse's office only this time he wasn't the one beaten up but the one who had done the beating up.

As his sobs began to quiet down, he was able to make out the gentle nothings that Solo was whispering to him, trying to calm him down. How had he gotten so lucky? God, how much shit had he put Solo in over this? He tightened whatever holds he had on the blond, refusing to let him go.

He didn't know if he would be able to survive without him if he did.

"Better?" Solo inquired as soon as Duo's sobs became merely sniffs.

Not trusting his voice, Duo nodded, hiccupping.

Solo pushed him back gently so as to get a good luck at his face. Duo gulped in air as he looked the blond in the eyes, not knowing anything else that he could do. Solo gave him a small smile, as if trying to assure him of something and then he began to remove his ruined shirt, revealing the wifebeater that he wore underneath it.

Using the cleaner parts of the shirt, Solo began to clean his face up, clearing away the tear stains and any snot that may have taken residence. When Solo covered his nose with it, Duo instinctively blew into it, clearing out the inside of his nostrils. Taking the shirt away from him, Solo casually tossed it away without a care as he brought Duo back up against him again.

Exhaling a deep breath, Solo said, "You know you're going to have to talk with Uncle and the others, right?"

Duo only nodded, taking in another gasp of air.

"Well, sooner you can get this over with, the better."

Once again, Duo only nodded.

--

Perhaps he should have stopped to think about what he had been agreeing to.

Unfortunately it was too late to back out now. Quatre was demanding answers, Trowa right at his side. Mr. Winner was off to a side, already knowing his story. Solo's father was hanging around in the back, as if intimated by his own son. Said son was reclined on a couch, serving as a body pillow for Duo as he laid on it.

He really, really, did not feel like doing this.

As if sensing his distress, Mr. Winner suggested, "Would you prefer it if I told them, Dwaine?"

"Dwaine?" Solo piped up. "You mean to tell me that your name is Dwaine? Not Duo?"

That seemed to lighten the mood up, or at least Duo's mood as he recalled the time he first learned Solo's full name. However, it seemed he was the only one to think that funny as the others, with the exception of the incredulous Solo, remained in their somber personas.

Duo shook his head in the negative to Mr. Winner's offer. Ultimately this was his story to tell and there was no way anyone was about to let him off the hook this time.

Sighing, he asked, "What is it you want to know?"

"Everything," Quatre stated, his normally kind eyes boring into him.

"Just the bare essentials," Trowa clarified.

Well, this was it. No going back now.

"I guess you could say it all started when my mother met my father," Duo began, settling back into the physical warmth that Solo provided him. "Since you all know who my father is, I'll just go with my mother. My mom was a hooker, a prostitute, that kind of thing. Looking back on it now, it's a wonder she didn't get an STD or some shit like that. From what I've been told, she ran into a lot of bad luck, just one thing after another until she had no other choice.

"Needless to say, that was how my parents met. He was just some guy with money looking for a quick screw and that's exactly what she offered him. Nine months later, I popped out. My father was not pleased; he hadn't expected me nor did he want me. When my mom came, asking for child support, he told her to drown me in a river and leave him alone.

"Now, my mom wasn't the best kind of person; she wasn't a saint, not by a long shot. She was an opportunist and she saw she had one with my father. That's right; she was going to try and screw him out of as much money as she could and using me to do it. Despite being at the lowest rungs of society, she still had some friends in all the right places and she got the court to force him to pay her the child support money.

"I've never really been sure about this next part but I do know that her friends know quite a bit of it. Anyway, I was three at the time and had no clue as to what was going on around me so when she died, no one was more surprised than me. My father didn't want to have anything to do with me so I was up the creek without a paddle. That's where my mom's lawyer, Howard, comes in. He managed to get custody of me before the government and my father forced me into an orphanage or a foster home, whichever one came first, and made sure that my father couldn't get out of the child support.

"Ever since then, he's been taking me back to court to either reduce the money he has to pay or to get the entire thing cut. Howard's been fighting him every step of the way. As you can probably guess, nothing he's done has endured him in my heart."

"One question," Trowa said. "There's something I'm not getting. Is there something else? Besides trying to stiff you, that is."

"That's one thing you're right about," Duo replied. "There came a time, a couple I think, when he thought it would be easier if I happened to have an 'accident' and, you know, get buried six feet under."

He felt Solo's body beneath him tense with this piece of information. He could see the horror that had etched itself onto Quatre's face. The other remaining three remained impassive, though Trowa looked startled. Mr. Winner already knew about it and the other elder Winner, who knew?

Yeah it was a bitter piece of information and it may have sounded like fantasy but it was all pure reality. What could he say? His father worked for Romafellor and they did anything and everything to ensure that they got what they wanted. Duo knew he had used up a couple lifetimes of luck getting this far and now that he was with the Winners, he was almost sure that his father wouldn't try something.

Almost.

He had had to move to different apartments because of it. His more recent one had been the fourth or fifth one he had lived in since the seventh grade. It was a struggle making sure that his father didn't know how to find him, and being a full time student didn't help him at all.

"Father, did you…?"

Looking up, he saw that Quatre was looking at his apparently impassive father, searching desperately for any sign that his father may have known about this.

Without saying a word, Mr. Winner confirmed his son's suspicions with a single nod. Quatre could only gasp and sink into further horror. Duo felt sorry for him, no really, he did. The Winner had been spared this kind of intrigue all of his life and yet he was to be expected to take over the family business when his father retired. He would have to take this sort of thing as an option, especially when dealing with Romafellor. They employed those tactics on a daily basis.

"How long?" Quatre finally managed to ask him.

"The day when Duo stayed home from school," Mr. Winner answered. "I sat down with him and had him tell me everything. He asked me not to say anything about this to anybody."

Then Quatre turned his sights onto him. Those sorrowful blue eyes tore at the braided one. They weren't accusing, something Duo would have expected. They were sympathetic, that was the word. Or was it pity? Duo couldn't handle pity; never had, never would. But he knew Quatre enough to know that he wouldn't give him pity.

At least, he believed Quatre knew enough to know not to do that.

Of course, just because Quatre knew didn't mean that Trowa did. From the one eye that he could see, he saw that emotion reflected in it. If he had not been using Solo as a piece of furniture, he didn't know if he would not be able to hold himself back from striking at him.

Now that was an interesting question. How was Solo taking all of this. He couldn't see what the guy's reaction was to his revelation and that made him nervous.

--

Solo found himself in a stupor.

He had never thought that the story that Duo had hidden from him would be like this. He had thought it was probably like some sort of teen angst, disagreement-with-the-folks estrangement kind of thing. Never in his wildest dreams could he have cooked up such a fantastic story like this. It was something that only Hollywood could have come up with.

It was unconceivable that a father would hate his own son enough to try and kill him off just because he wanted nothing to do with him. Solo knew that he had stiffed off many responsibilities in his time but he was nothing compared to Duo's father. From what little he heard about the man, he didn't like him one bit.

The only thing he didn't begrudge him was the fact that it was because of him that Duo existed. Otherwise, the man could die of gonorrhea and rot in hell for all that he cared.

Now that he was on the subject of Duo, he had to do what any good boyfriend had to do. He needed to give him all the comfort that he possibly could while assuring him that there was no way in hell that he was going to let something like this come between them.

So without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around the prone braided teen and held him tightly like a child with a stuffed animal. He would not be releasing him anytime soon, especially not with everything that had happened that day.

He was certain that this was only the calm before the storm.

Then he remembered the words that he had had with his uncle some time ago.

They echoed within his mind, as if they had only been spoken moments ago…


	44. The Nature of Romafellor

Author's Note: In order for this first part to make sense, I want you guys to think back to the beginning of the story, about chapter 11 or 12, maybe 13. There is a specific scene there, one that a few people asked questions about, questions that remained unanswered until now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

The Nature of Romafellor

"_I'd like to have a talk with you Solomon," Uncle Raberba stated, "and it concerns that young man. I want you to listen to what I say, understand?"_

_He was not in the mood for this. First Short Stuff gets one over him, now his uncle wants to butt into his life, most likely to tell him not to do something. It was like he was being treated like a child, honestly. Yet, he could not just blow off his uncle. He was in charge here, not the other way around. He had no other choice but to do as he was told._

"_I want you to be careful around Duo," his uncle said._

_Now what was this? Did he think that he was going to hurt the guy or something? Jesus, did he really have that little faith in him?_

"_Don't roll your eyes Solomon," his uncle reprimanded. "What I am about to tell you is very important. I want you to be on your guard at all times when you're around Duo. Do you understand me?"_

_Wait. What? What was his uncle talking about? It was as if he was afraid Short Stuff was going to get him into something bad instead of the other way around. He let his skepticism show by frowning and crossing his arms, raising an eyebrow to signal for the older man to continue._

_Taking the nonverbal cue, his uncle continued. "That boy has quite a few demons lurking around him, quite a few of which are very real and very dangerous. They are nothing like you are use to. Trust me."_

_If anything, this was annoying the blond. Pfft, what was it about Duo that was so bad that he couldn't handle it? He had seen a lot of shit; what could Duo throw at him besides that kick of his? The only thing dangerous about Duo was Duo himself and only because that guy knew karate or whatever the hell that Ding guy called it._

"_I think I can take care of myself," he said dryly._

"_Be it as it may I still what you to be careful," Uncle Raberba replied. "I am not saying you need to keep your distance or anything. You are my nephew and I want you to be safe, that is all."_

"_Then why are you bringing up this shit?" he demanded._

"_You will watch your tongue as long as you are under my roof, do you understand?" Uncle Raberba snapped, eyes glinting in anger. "I will be telling Quatre the same thing shortly so you will not be the only one."_

"_What could be so bad that I need to be careful around Duo?" he exclaimed exasperatedly. "What could I possibly lose just by sticking around him?"_

"_Your life for one," his uncle stated, ending any argument Solo might have made._

_His…life…?_

"_No way," he snorted. "You almost had me there, uncle. There is no way that my life is gonna be in danger. Hell will freeze over before that happens."_

--

Jesus. Christ.

Uncle Raberba had really been serious. Duo's confession just now not only confirmed it but proved it.

Christ. What had he gotten himself into anyway? He must have used up all of his luck to not have an assassination attempt or anything like that happen. How close had he been to death all this time? What could have prevented any attempts from happening or succeeding? Was it him? Was it because of his presence and his presence alone that nothing was tried?

He didn't have any answers at this time but now he felt fear, real heart-pounding fear, coursing through his body. Loosing Duo was now a real possibility, a very real and very frightening possibility.

He tightened his embrace on the braided teen instinctively. There was no way anybody was going to be taking Duo away from him. If there were any attempts…

…then they would have to be done over his dead body.

--

"You know, it was quite a surprise seeing the boy there," Tsubarov commented before taking a sip of his wine.

"I imagine that it was," Dermail replied coolly.

"Of all the places to be, I would never have expected him to be with the Winners. He's just like his mother," Tsubarov added. "He draws them in and when he traps them, he'll take everything they have for his own. A bloodsucker if anything. I have a feeling though that you knew he was already there."

"You would be corrected on that assumption," Dermail confirmed. "You can thank my granddaughter Dorothy for telling me about it. It's the reason I chose you to be Romafellor's representative."

"Would you care to elaborate on that, if you don't mind me asking?" Tsubarov asked, confused as to where Dermail's trail of logic went.

"It's because your son is staying with the Winners," Dermail told him. "He will be perfect for adding leverage to our side in the negotiations. Since your son is on such good terms with them, use it to your advantage. I believe that if Mr. Winner himself will not listen to you, he will consider your son's words to have more weight and that is where the genius in this plan lies."

"You mean, you want me to use that boy to get this deal to go through?" Tsubarov asked, gulping.

"Is that a problem?" Dermail answered, raising a delicate eyebrow. While he didn't mind being asked questions, he was beginning to be irritated at how obstinate Tsubarov was being.

"No, not at all," Tsubarov quickly told him, trying not to have to face his superior's ire yet keeping a cool disposition. Inside though, his nerves were shot to Hell. He was under no certain terms on a good relationship with the boy. The boy would rather crucify him alive than sit down for a friendly chat, of that he was certain. Use that relationship? That was a key to disaster and yet he couldn't let it interfere this time around.

The benefits he would receive should he successfully close this proposal were too great for him to pass up. Higher pay, a generous promotion, clout with Mr. Romafellor himself, he'd be a moron to pass it up.

And yet it all depended on that ugly little shit with the long braid.

It would seem he was going to have to pull out the big guns on this one. He would make sure that the brat would…understand his side. In fact, he would make him a deal that he couldn't possibly refuse, not in this lifetime at least.

He could hardly wait.

--

As much as Solo didn't want to be, he was back out with his family and Trowa, Duo having since been put to bed, physically exhausted, mentally tired, and emotionally drained. Duo was practically a breathing doll when it was determined that he should get his rest.

Wordlessly, Solo had taken charge of that duty and had refused all offers for help. Now he was back in the living room and his first words were, "Now what do we do?"

"There isn't anything that we can do," his uncle answered.

Suffice to say, Solo was not pleased with this answer. "Can't you just tell that asshole he's not welcomed here or something?"

"I could," his uncle said, "but I still have to meet with the man. I can't just out of the blue decide to pull out without a rational reason. This is Romafellor we're dealing with, our main competitive rival. I can not refuse to meet with their chosen representative just because that man happens to have issues with one of my son's friends. Anything that I do reflects not only on myself and the family but the corporation and its reputation abroad itself."

"But we can't just let something like this go!" Quatre protested. "This is more than my friend's life at stake! That man is a criminal!"

"So is the rest of Romafellor."

The new voice started the two young Winners. Searching for the voice's source, no one was more surprised than Solo to discover that it came from not his uncle, Raberba, but his father, Ezekiel.

The man had an uncharacteristic look of severity on his face. Continuing without preamble, he said, "The actions that Mr. Tsubarov has taken against his son are ones that have been taken by Romafellor countless times in the past. Whenever somebody has tried to resist or defy them in any way, they resort to any means necessary to get what they want. They will stop at nothing, not even the law, to achieve their own ends, whether it be just everyday business transactions to major deals with world changing outcomes."

"And what the fuck does that have to do with Duo?" Solo demanded.

"You watch your mouth Solomon," Ezekiel snapped, shocking his son into silence. "Tsubarov is a typical run-of-the-mill Romafellor employee. Of course he is going to use those tactics in something as trivial as to not have to pay a measly child support check. It's the only thing he knows how to do if he's been working for them as long as I think he has."

"But Duo is his child!" Quatre argued.

"Which means nothing to a man whose career is probably more important to him than anything else," Ezekiel retorted. "You heard what your friend said. His father just wanted to relieve himself with a woman and got her pregnant. I don't mean to offend you but that's the truth, no matter how horrible it sounds."

Solo continued to stare at his father. This was not the man that he had grown up with, this was somebody else entirely. The father he knew was easy to push around, had no backbone whatsoever, but this version was just as tough and firm as his uncle was. He had no idea how to react to such a drastic change; he was that out of his element.

Where had this stranger been hiding all this time?

"So what are you going to be doing?" Trowa spoke up for the first time, bringing things back to the original topic.

"As I had said earlier, nothing," Raberba answered. "And as my brother has clarified, there is nothing we can do. We are not only dealing with one of the world's largest firms but one of the more dangerous ones as well. A simple 'no' will not placate them."

"This is nothing you should be concerned about," Ezekiel picked up. "Let us handle this."

This had gone on beyond the point where Solo was infuriated. Was his father just dismissing Duo's problems like they didn't exist or something?

"Are you saying we're not going to do anything for Duo?" he nearly snarled, his green eyes flaring with rage.

"Nothing of the sort," Ezekiel stated. "Our hands are tied here. Duo's problems encompass something greater than some high school, teen angst melodrama. There are real life consequences to anything we try to do, not only for Duo, but for us and the business as well. I'm sorry Solomon but that's the reality of the situation."

Solo grinded his teeth together as his father used his full name again. He glared at his father, the man staring coolly back at him. In the end, it was Solo who ended up looking away, a loss that he had never bowed down to before. Letting his irritation known, he stomped out of the room, heading for his bedroom with a single-minded purpose.

He may not have won this fight but he wasn't about to give up yet. Where could he start? What could he do to help Duo? As much as he didn't want to admit it, his father was right, this thing was bigger than what he was used to. Street fights, punk kids at school, those he could handle.

This sucked. He couldn't do anything, nothing at all. Was Duo suppose to go through this all alone? Damn it! If he couldn't do anything to help then what good was he? Just something to stay in the background and look pretty? Like hell he would!

His hands tightened into fists and his jaw clenched with unbearable pressure. While it was all well and good that he wanted to do something, it didn't stop his father and uncle from being right. Why'd they have to be so smart anyway? Logic was going against him this time and it was really biting him in the ass, especially since he usually didn't pay logic any mind before. However, his parental figures did and that really was not an easy thing to get around.

He found himself, soon enough, standing next to the bed that Duo was now fast asleep in. Now how could anybody hate something as precious as this? The braided one was curled up into a ball, despite being covered with the bed sheets, and hair was attempting to escape the confining braid that was imprisoning it. He looked like a puppy or a kitten. What kind of a person could hurt one of those?

Stripping down to the bare essentials, he climbed under the covers and wrapped his arms around the sleeping teen, bringing the smaller body closer to him and resting his chin just above the chestnut hair. He felt Duo unconsciously snuggle into the warmth that he provided which only led him to tighten his embrace.

He was far too awake to even begin thinking about going to sleep. Despite the much needed solace that the activity would provide him from the world around him, his mind was too active as he sought to assimilate all the information that he had receive during this _fine_ day.

It would be quite some time until he was able to relax just enough to allow the sweet darkness of sleep to finally overcome him.


	45. Quality Time with Tsubarov

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Quality Time with Tsubarov

Well this was swell. The weekend just had to rush past them, Sunday blending into Saturday and all that, and now the next thing that Solo knew it was Monday.

Monday meant that they had to get up early. Monday meant school. Monday meant that whatever it was that his father and uncle were working on with Duo's father would be picked up.

But most of all, Duo still seemed down in the dumps. Whether it was because of his father's sudden appearance or he was still brooding on beating that group of guys up, Solo didn't know. Not even the freedom that was guaranteed on a Sunday had lifted Duo's spirits up one bit. He would know, he hadn't left Duo's side once since Saturday.

As they walked down the hallways of their school, it seemed Duo's mood was affecting their fellow students. The asses would stop what they were doing and stare at the long-haired duo as they trudged down the clean hallways, immediately beginning to gossip about what they saw as soon as they passed. Solo knew; he kept overhearing them.

The rumor mill was working overtime and the two hadn't reached their first period class when the gossip about them caught up to them. Solo grinded his teeth together as he heard about the "inevitable" breakup between him and Duo. He had no doubt that someone among the hoards of females that were busy trying to flirt with him was responsible for that tidbit and it did nothing to assuage his anger. As if to prove them wrong, he wrapped his arm around Duo's shoulders as he usually did. Whether or not that had an effect, the blond didn't know.

He just wanted to punch something, anything, and, if he could, murder someone in particular. Typically, these murderous thoughts were foreign to the blond but this time was special.

He would actually risk prison time and his position in the Winner family for this.

Entering into their first period classroom, Solo led the braided one to his seat and had to actually gently make Duo sit down in it before sitting in his own. The two remained in silence, even as other students trickled in. Solo caught sight of Dorothy trying to make a move towards them.

However, she stopped a few feet away and slowly made her way towards her own seat, as if warded away by the dark cloud that seemed to have settled over Duo. Looking at Duo again, Solo had to turn away. If he kept looking at his friend, he would probably drive himself into a depression with just the sight of Duo alone.

Damn that asshole for doing this to Duo!

The only person that didn't seem to be affected by Duo's mood was the teacher as she perkily entered the classroom just as the bell rang. She also seemed ignorant about how downcast the class seemed to be as she readily jumped into her lesson plan. After a few minutes, Solo buried his head into his folded arms, trying to block out the teacher's voice. She was just too damn cheery today and it was giving him one hell of a migraine.

It should be a crime for somebody to be this happy in the morning.

Eventually, the drone of the lady's voice became a tolerable hum and Solo allowed himself to begin casting glances at Duo every now and then. Unlike everybody else, Duo didn't change one bit throughout the class. Solo was more than worried as the seconds ticked by and Duo remained in his depressed state.

The sound of the intercom sliced through the tense atmosphere causing the blond to jump unnoticeably in his seat. However, that wasn't going to be the only surprise in the next few seconds as somebody from the main office requested for Duo, also mentioning that his father was there to pick him up.

Needless to say, Solo was immediately suspicious. Looking at Duo, he was a bit relieved to see the braided one blinking in surprise. At least he knew that Duo was still in there but then he saw Duo's facial features harden as the braided teen stood up and gathered his things. Solo wanted more than anything to go along with him but knew that he couldn't. He was put at ease somewhat when Duo spied him from the door and offered him a small smile. It wasn't much but Solo would take anything that he was offered.

The moment the door closed behind him, Solo sighed as he slumped down in his seat.

This was just too much drama this early in the morning and what was worse was he wasn't even high yet…

--

Whatever suspicions Solo had were nothing compared to those that resided with in Duo as he headed towards the main office. Anything that involved him and that bastard Tsubarov in the same sentence was never good.

Was he trying to kill him again? It wouldn't be the first time…

As soon as he entered the main office, he was immediately instructed that his father would be waiting outside for him. That only served to put him in a fouler mood than before and he was once again trudging through the hallways.

This time, though, he had the unexpected pleasure of running into Heero along the way, the injured teen coming out of a restroom. Duo caught the wicked look that the Japanese youth expressed upon catching sight of him, obviously thinking of ways of brutalizing the braided one. Duo just increased his walking pace and when he was within a few feet, he warned, "Don't even think about it. Not in the mood."

Stumped for only a few seconds, Heero's eyes narrowed and he made after his fleeing prey, pissed that he was just being written off like he was. Despite having to use crutches to get around, Heero fully intended to beat the crap out of the braided queer-rat.

However, Duo heard his approach. Fed up, Duo gave no warning this time as he spun around and kicked Heero's crutches to a side, removing the Japanese youth's only means of mobility. As Heero sought to retain his tenuous balance, Duo swiftly removed his backpack and used it as a club to bring Heero down to the hallway floor violently.

Without another word or even one glance back, Duo left Heero sprawled out where he had fallen.

The sunny day that greeted him as he exited the school building did not match the braided one's current mood. That limo just ahead whose driver was waiting at the rear passenger's door didn't help to lift his spirits either.

Gruffly, he marched over to the waiting automobile and got in, sitting as far away as he could from the cab's current occupant. He set his backpack next to his leg, close by so that if he felt the need to use it, it was readily available.

"What do you want?" he snarled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Ever the conversationalist," Tsubarov commented in jest. "Is that the way you speak to your father figure?"

"Wouldn't know," Duo shot back. "I seem to have a lack of that, especially since that 'father figure' played hooky all my life."

"Now that just hurts," Tsubarov said, putting a hand over his heart as if what Duo had said greatly pained him.

"Why don't you just cut the crap," Duo stated. "What is it that you want? You never wanted to have anything to do with me and now suddenly I'm the most important person in your life? I don't think so. Just tell me what you want. My time's just as important as yours, you know."

A flash of unmistaken anger made its appearance in Tsubarov's eyes but was quickly masked. "Was that really necessary? Here I am, offering to extend an olive branch and take an interest in your life and you insult me to my face. If I wasn't the patient man that I am, I would have kicked you out of this car by now."

"Especially since we're moving, right?" Duo added dryly. "By the way, newsflash! You aren't a patient person!"

"Things change," Tsubarov replied.

"Depends on what things."

"Is it too much to ask that I spend a little quality time with you?" Tsubarov snapped.

"Quality time," Duo repeated skeptically.

"Yes," Tsubarov said. "Get to know you more, have a pleasant meal with you, that sort of thing. I've been absent enough of your life and you are on the verge of entering a new stage of it."

Duo didn't know whether or not to laugh at this. This was becoming too cheesy. He highly doubted that this asshole would have a sudden change of heart after spending all of his, Duo's, life trying to ruin it. He hadn't gotten as far as he had by being gullible and stupid.

"So I take it you've given up trying to move up the date of graduation," he said dryly.

Tsubarov blinked in surprise. "How'd you—?"

"I wasn't born yesterday, pops," Duo said. "So whatever it is that you want, spill it now. I have better things to do than to sit here and spend 'quality time' with you."

"I guess I deserved that one," Tsubarov commented. "I haven't really been there for you, have I?"

To an untrained eye, this man was a superb actor. To someone like Duo who had a trained eye, he sucked at acting. No really, he did. He kept changing topics too quickly, never leading into them. It was something that wasn't completely obvious but when you had to deal with the man as Duo had, it was easy to spot.

"I'm trying here, boy, I really am," Tsubarov continued, using his Oscar-winning performance to try and score some pity points from the braided one. "I'm willing to spend the whole day with you, doing whatever it is that you want. How about it? Just some father-son time that we can catch up on, eh?"

Oh, he was going back to that again, huh? Well two could play at this game.

"Father-son time, huh?" he repeated thoughtfully, tapping into his own acting abilities. To tell the truth, they weren't the best but hey, they managed to fool that ugly idiot over there. Tsubarov was nodding eagerly, too eagerly in Duo's opinion. Time to make the bastard feel the pain now. "Sure, why not?"

--

It just wasn't the same without Duo there. Whatever depressive mood that had hung over Duo was now acting as a repellent for Solo as he plowed his way through this glorious Monday. With Duo gone, the opposite sex was taking the opportunity to go after him as if it was open season or something. As stated before, that depression that Duo seemed to have transferred to him. However, whenever Solo got into a depressive mood, if he ever did, he took an angry appearance, one that dared anybody to mess with him.

No one took the dare.

He really needed something to take the edge off. His mind soon drifted back to that missing stash of weed and he wondered briefly about it. Damn, he really needed to get high…

Having Quatre and/or Trowa escort him to his classes didn't help with his mood either. He still hadn't memorized this place yet.

Oh, he missed Duo. What could he possibly be going through, especially since he wasn't there to protect him from whatever tortures his piece of shit, sorry excuse for a father was enacting on him.

If only he could be there…

--

If Solo had been there, he probably would have felt a bit more pity for Tsubarov.

Maybe…

The truth was, if anybody was doing the torturing, it was Duo as he ran the man ragged all around the city.

Tsubarov was red in the face but whether that was from exhaustion or murderous anger, Duo didn't know nor did he care. That man had made his life a living hell for eighteen years and now it was time for some payback.

As can be seen, the braided teen was a very vindictive person.

"I'm pooped!" the braided one declared as he flopped back into the limo's seating.

"Finally!" Tsubarov muttered, careful not to let Duo hear it. "Are you sure there isn't anywhere else you might like to go?" he asked aloud instead, still trying to suck up.

Duo took a moment to actually think about it. Should he or should he not continue to torture this man? Hmm, decisions, decisions…

"Nope, can't think of a thing!" he declared with a cheeky smile. It was more because _he_ was tired than the fact that Tsubarov looked like he was on his last legs. Even though he was younger and more energetic than this slob of a man, even he had his limits.

"If you are sure," Tsubarov said, acting as if he could go on a little bit longer while performing a happy dance in his head, "where would you like me to drop you off."

Taking a look around at the passing scenery, Duo decided that he wanted to get away from this man as soon as possible. "Here's fine."

Tsubarov didn't even try to reason with him. "Well, before you go, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

Oh boy, here it was, the hidden string attached. What did this asshole have up his sleeve this time? Was he going to try and bribe him again? Wouldn't be the first time he tried. Last time he tried, he had wanted Duo to give up the child support money that he was owed.

"There is this deal that I am in charge in," Tsubarov explained. "It is very important, not only to the company but to me as well."

"What do you want?" Duo hissed, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"I would really appreciate it if you could use whatever influence you have with Raberba Winner and…persuade him to see things my way, Romafellor's way if you will," Tsubarov explained eagerly.

"Why should I help you?" Duo demanded, body tense.

"I did treat you to this fabulous day, didn't I?" Tsubarov stated. "What more could you want?"

"Nothing material that you could offer," Duo snarked. "Stop the car, I want out."

Eyes lighting up with an idea, Tsubarov smirked. "I see what you want."

"No you don't," Duo snapped. "You never did."

"You want a father figure," Tsubarov continued blithely. "I don't know why I didn't see if before. I think you're going to like my new offer."

"You just never give up, do you?" Duo muttered.

"If you help me and this deal goes through, I will give you the thing that you want most," Tsubarov declared. "I will acknowledge you as my son and rightful heir to my estate. You will get to come home and live with me. What do you say?"

Duo froze, one foot out the car door. Those words, he had waited so long to hear those words, so long that he gave up, doubting that he would ever hear them. As a young boy, it had been more than a hope but a dream, a glorious fantasy that only a child come imagine, one that had never attempted to come true. Now, after all this time, he finally heard the words that he had craved to hear as a little boy and now…

Slowly, he turned to face the man that had sired and abandoned him. "It's a bit too late for that," he stated coldly. "Go fuck yourself asshole and go to hell."

Not allowing himself to listen to Tsubarov any longer, he got out of the limo as fast as he could and slammed the door harshly behind him. With long strides, he sought to distance himself from the limo that held his biological father.

Tsubarov did nothing though. He remained where he sat but instead of the characteristic fury that would have enveloped his face. Instead, there was a thoughtful look.

"Not before you do," Tsubarov said to himself. "Driver! Take me home," he ordered.

So his plan was a bust. No problem. He always had a contingency plan incase the first went up in flames. He hadn't gotten as far as he had by being a moron, after all.

Once he got back to his home, he would need to make a few calls…


	46. Solo Goes a Plotting

Author's Note: As an advanced noticed, be prepared for suspense filled chapters as you all move closer and closer to the end. There's still a ways to go but it shouldn't be too long now. This fic should be finished by the end of September but I'm not holding my breath on that just yet. Otherwise, an informative chapter is now at your disposals. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Solo Goes a Plotting

Duo did not head straight back to the Winner Estate as he had wanted to.

Instead, he had changed his destination back towards the city and to a certain school that he hadn't been to in a while. He was lucky this time around; the most recent class was ending and Master Deng had some free time available.

This was good, he didn't have to wait and hold it all in for much longer.

"What are you doing here?" a familiar voice sneered from a side.

Duo groaned aloud. He did not need this right now.

"Don't start with me Wufei," he growled warningly, eyeing the snobbish Chinese teen murderously. "I am not in the mood right now."

"You would think that I would be that low," Wufei scorned.

"Don't think you can fool me Chang, I know you're that low," Duo snapped. "I need to talk with your uncle so please kindly point him out to me. Otherwise, stop bothering me."

"How rude," Wufei sniffed. "If you think you can intimidate me with that attitude, guess again rat."

"That's enough!" interrupted the sharp voice of Deng. "What are you two, children? Break it up now and no lip."

Wufei only remained long enough to cast Duo a last nasty glare before acquiescing to his uncle's order. Deng frowned at the look but made no attempt to comment about it, preferring to level his attention on Duo instead.

"I hope you know I'm disappointed in you," Deng stated.

"Sorry about that," Duo sighed. "Rough day."

"That is no excuse," Deng replied. "When you are inside my school, I don't care if it even is your father standing there, you will conduct yourself in a matter befitting of not only me but of you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal," Duo said.

Nodding, Deng's stern features melted back into the customary disposition and small smile that he was known for. "So what brings you here today Duo?"

"Talk in private?" Duo asked.

Nodding again, this time in understanding, Deng led the way back to his office. Duo could feel the distant glare that Wufei was still aiming at him from wherever it was that he had placed himself. He ignored it though, focusing more on the task at hand: talking and venting to Deng.

"So what is on your mind, Duo?" Deng asked the moment he closed his office door.

"You know how you mentioned my father earlier?" Duo started. At Deng's nod, he continued, "Well, you hit the nail on the head, my father is what's on my mind. He's back and he's found me again. He tried to bribe me today to help him out with this deal he's in charge of."

"I hoped you said no, of course," Deng commented.

"You bet I did," Duo confirmed. "But…"

"But?" Deng prodded.

"It's what he tried to bribe me with. He said that he would accept me if this deal went through and I helped to make it happen," Duo confessed.

Deng's eyes widened in understanding and astonishment. "I never thought that man would ever go as low as that," he admitted. "His deceitfulness and debauchery are greater than I have ever imagined. To think that such a human being exists… I am sorry Duo. I wish that you didn't have to go through this."

"If wishes were fishes, we'd be able to walk across the ocean," Duo quipped.

"I have heard that one before," Deng commented. "How appropriate."

"So is there anything you think I should do?" Duo inquired, radiating his absolute trust in the martial arts master through his eyes alone.

Deng knew that all he could do was disappoint his pupil with what he had to answer with. "There isn't more I can tell you other than keep doing what you are doing," he told him earnestly. "You know what kind of man your father is. Do not fall into his traps and tricks. Keep true to yourself and your beliefs and you will come out of this in the best shape that you possible can under the circumstances."

--

Wufei concentrated on every muffled word he could hear from the other side of his uncle's office door. There were quite some gaps in his understanding of what the two inside were talking about but he did know that something was up and whenever that happened, he just needed to be on the lookout for the opportunity to cash in on this thing, whatever it is.

It irritated him to no end how his uncle, a man related to him by blood, would always drop what he was doing in order to council that braided rat no matter the time of day meanwhile he, Wufei, had to wait for his uncle's attentions. It irked him in a way that not even that failing test grade had. He had spent so much time convincing everyone and himself that the reason why he despised Duo Maxwell was because he screwed him over when really this was perhaps the thing that was closer to the truth. From a young age, he admired his uncle and craved for the man's attention. It was when he had been visiting his uncle's school that he had first met, or at least seen, Duo and he had been rendered jealous at the relationship that this Caucasian had forged with Uncle Deng. It didn't help either that his uncle had taken the rat's side when he had rightfully tried to put the rat in his place where he belonged.

But what precisely was going on now? How much did his uncle know of this, whatever it was, and for how long had he known about it? And why was that queer rat talking to his uncle of all people about it?

Most importantly, though, was how exactly could he profit from it?

With those questions on his mind, he slipped away from the door and began to consider his possibilities.

--

"Don't ask."

Those were the words Solo was greeted with the moment he spotted Duo coming in through the front door. So what if the blond had camped out in the main foyer, glaring at the front door until it opened and allowed him the sight of his Duo. That was when Duo spoke up first, long before he was able to demand anything.

So he could only frown at this and rightly so. He had a right to know what went on between Duo and his father and damn it, he was going to know what happened!

Okay, okay, so maybe he didn't have a right because of those privacy issues and whatnot. But that still didn't mean he was going to give up just yet.

Hell, this was the latest thing that was throwing a wrench in his life and he damn well wanted it out. Duo was in the center of it all and, by proxy, Solo was close by if not in this storm as well.

Folding his arms over his chest, he pursued the braided one through the hallways, always on his heels, refusing to stop until Duo cracked.

"Tell me," he demanded calmly.

"No," Duo retorted, determined not to fall to the blond's whims.

"Tell me," Solo repeated, still keeping up in the chase.

"No," Duo repeated, speeding up his pace, attempting to lose the blond shadow. Solo only increased his own pace and kept up with him.

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Tell me."

"Get a life already! I'm not saying anything!"

Solo smirked. Now he was getting somewhere. "Tell me."

"Will you just—urg!"

"Tell me."

"NO! Now quit it! Leave me alone!"

By now Duo was running. Even though he shouldn't, Solo ran after the braided one, easily keeping up as he used his longer legs to his ruthless advantage. As amusing as this was now becoming, Solo wanted some answers already. So in one simple motion, he scooped up a surprised Duo into his arms and slowed his speed down so he wasn't running anymore. Duo got over his surprise quickly and was already squirming, trying to free himself. Solo just tightened his hold as his eyes scanned for a room where they could have a more private conversation away from prying ears.

The first such room was an unused guestroom. Immediately entering, he closed the door behind him with his foot and dropped Duo onto the bed before quickly scrambling and pinning Duo down with his heavier body weight. Taking hold of Duo's wrists, he quickly pinned those down as well and glared down into the violet eyes of his captive.

"Now, spill," he ordered. "No more avoiding the topic and no more not answering me. Tell me what happened, okay?"

"This is none of your business Solomon so don't make it yours," Duo growled.

"Too bad," Solo stated, taking note of his full name being used. "I'm already involved whether you like it or not. I've been involved and now I want to know more than what little that I do know and since you seem to know everything that's going on, I'm not going to let up until you talk so the sooner you get with the program, the sooner we can do something about this."

"Get with the program? How about we start with you?" Duo retorted. "I don't have to say anything if I don't want to. Respect that first and maybe we can start getting somewhere. This doesn't involve you anyway."

"It does so when my family gets involved," Solo countered. "Your father is doing something that involves my family and our business. That day you fought Wufei, my uncle talked with you in his study, he mentioned something about this didn't he? That's why you were in there for so long. He told you about this but he said nothing to me or to Quatre and we're related by blood!"

Duo stared up at him in shock.

Solo smiled bitterly. "You think I forgot about that? Well, whatever it was that your dad pulled you out of school for, it involved whatever it was that my uncle talked with you about. So yeah, this does involve me and I need to know what is going on."

Duo looked away. "As if you can do anything about it," he grumbled.

"You don't know that," Solo stated. "I want to help you, okay? I've wanted to help you ever since I followed you back to that rat hole you called an apartment and you told me about what was going on between you and your dad. But I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong. Don't you trust me? After everything and all the time we've spent together, you can't tell me that."

"I do trust you," Duo said quietly. "It's just…"

"What?" Solo prompted.

"It's too personal," Duo pleaded, looking up into his eyes.

"What can be so bad that you can't share it with me?" Solo asked gently. "Let me in Duo. Let me help. C'mon. You know you can tell me anything."

Oh no. Those couldn't be…yes they were. Tears were beginning to leak out of Duo's eyes even as the braided one silently pleaded with him to drop the matter. Whatever it was, this thing was making Duo cry and that was completely unacceptable.

Whoever was responsible for this was going to get their skull cracked open.

Keeping his sadistic and homicidal tendencies and thoughts hidden, he gently coaxed Duo into talking. At first it seemed as if Duo had gotten control over his emotions or something since he seemed especially calm when he told him about the business deal that was at the center of this. When he talked about what he did today, his voice became colder but the braided one still remained calm. It was when Duo told him about what Tsubarov had said to him that the tears and the emotional instability returned. By the time Duo was finished telling his tale, Solo was sitting upright with Duo in his lap, the blond holding the brunet like a small child.

Solo's green eyes had hardened as he rested Duo's head on his shoulders. He had never thought that he would ever be as disgusted with another human being as he was with Duo's father. The man just kept going lower and lower, taking the bar with him. It was only his nature to want to rip the man apart but he didn't dare touch him, at least not yet.

His own father may not had been the best parent in the world, being easily pushed around and whatnot when it came to him, his son, but dangling parenthood to entice somebody to do something you want? There were no words in English dictionary to describe how low that was. Even parasites had more integrity than that.

If only this situation weren't so complicated. He was used to dealing with things with his fists if need be and also because most of the things he used to get into usually ended up using fists. This was way over his head, he admitted that and the best thing he could do thus far to offer his significant other a shoulder to lean on, if not cry on.

If there was only something he could do, anything…

If he didn't know any better, he'd say there was a whole conspiracy out there that was out to get him.

Wait.

That was it!

He couldn't do anything but he did know somebody who could and would do so only because they had the guts, and lets face it, the balls, to do something.

After soothing Duo down into a restless slumber, he quietly left the room and went across the hall into another guestroom, pulling out his cell phone as he did so.

Dialing the number, he waited impatiently for a response the moment the familiar ringing sound rang from the receiver. Come on, pick up, he urged, beginning to tap his foot irritably.

"_Who is this? We don't want any!_" a grumpy voice finally answered. Solo didn't restrain a smirk from coming out.

Bingo.

"Is that how you answer the phone Mueller?" he teased.

"_Solo? What the hell are you doing calling at this time?!_" Mueller demanded.

"Hey, it's only evening," Solo defended. "Anyway, this ain't a social call."

"_Oh, so now you call when you want something,_" Mueller sneered.

"When have I ever done differently? That's the only times I've ever called you," Solo retorted. "Now shut up for a minute, I need your help."

"_And what could be so big that you would want my piss poor help?_" Mueller replied wryly.

"Can it Mueller," Solo snapped. "Now listen up. What do you know about a man called Tsubarov? He's a guy that works with the Romafellor Corporation."

He heard silence on the other end and he could only hope that it was a silence where Mueller was thinking. Then after a suspense-filled minute, Mueller finally answered.

"_Nope, never heard of him._"

"What about Romafellor?"

"_Who hasn't? Those greedy bastards run the world, I swear._"

Choosing not to say anything to that, Solo pressed, "Are you really serious about wanting to do something about them? You know, show them whose boss and that you're not going to take it anymore?"

"_Go on._"

"Well, I need you to do something," Solo explained. "Piss them off some. Show the world who they really are and that stuff."

He could feel the smirk that he knew was gracing Mueller's face. "_Oh? And what do you think I would be able to do?_"

"I've hung around you long enough to know that you have connections," Solo stated, "and by that, I mean followers. I also know that you've done a bunch of illegal shit as well."

"_Great, spell out my biography why don't you? What do you want me to do?_"

"As I said, piss Romafellor off," Solo explained patiently. "Vandalize one of their buildings, do something, it can be anything."

"_And why don't you do it yourself?_"

"I'm in a position where I can't but you can which is why I'm bothering to call. Look, do you want to do this or not?"

"_Slow down there, I didn't say I wouldn't do it but tell me, what's in it for me?_"

"I don't know, maybe you can prove that one of your theories is correct?"

"_Uh huh. Okay. Just as long as you can keep the heat off me._"

"You got it. I gotta go now."

Without waiting to hear a response, Solo hung up and pocketed his phone. Well, the ball was in Mueller's court and from what he knew, the paranoid moron wouldn't pass up a chance like this. He probably would have done it earlier except for lack of motivation and enthusiasm. Just as long as he had someone agree with him, he would get fired up and perform fucking miracles. Who knew what he was cooking up as he stood there?

Slipping back in to the guestroom, he gazed sadly down as the curled up human ball that was Duo. He really had had a hard life, hadn't he? Harder than his own to be sure. Snaking his arms around the slumbering teen he carried Duo back to his bedroom where he not only put him to bed but followed suit as well. He had no appetite this night and he was going to make sure that Duo got some sleep before tomorrow.

In the meantime, he would leave everything else up to wiser heads.

--

Getting only a dial tone, Mueller hung up his phone. On his face was a manic smile and a twinkle in his eye that betrayed the mischief that he was currently cooking up.

Piss ol' RC off, huh? He could do that. Hell, he'd even surpass Solo's expectations of him. First he need to round a few guys up and get some…tools that he would need.

It was going to be a very busy night…


	47. When the Hammer Falls

Author's Note: Hey guys, today I would like to introduce you to my latest OC, the enigmatic Mr. Romafellor. Tell me what you think of him and hopefully he doesn't sound like any of my other OC's from the past. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

When the Hammer Falls

A sharp and annoying sound jolted Tsubarov out of his beauty sleep without warning and without mercy.

His eyes slowly opened and turned to glare at the source of the noise…his phone?

Frowning, he picked up the communication device and demanded, "What is it?"

A silent moment passed as he listened, his eyes suddenly widening.

"Say what?!" he nearly roared. Cutting off the person on the other side, he snapped, "I'm on my way; you'd better have a good explanation for this."

Slamming the phone down, he swore and cursed as he got out of his warm and comfortable bed and got ready prematurely for his day.

--

Duo tried to ignore the buzzing sound that had stealthily entered his unconscious and brought him out of his dreams. Damn it, what was it? He wanted sleep! What day was it anyway?

The surface upon which he was laying on began to rumble beneath him, insuring that he would not be falling off to dreamland anytime soon. Grumbling, he opened his eyes and immediately shut them as the morning light blinded him. Now that he was more aware of his surroundings, he recognized the dissonance that had woken him up as the T.V. but what the hell was it doing on anyway?

"Wakey, wakey, Short Stuff," a husky voice whispered in his ear. "I know you aren't asleep anymore. C'mon, I want you to see this."

Solo? What was he doing awake at this time of day? Was he crazy or something?

Opening his eyes again, this time slowly so that they adjusted to the light that drifted in from the window, he glared up at the blond whom he was laying on, explaining the rumbling from earlier.

"Look at the T.V." Solo instructed, a bemused look on his face.

Frowning, Duo did what he was told and looked at the appliance.

--

Tsubarov could hardly believe his eyes at the sight of what he saw.

There it was, the central offices of this branch of the Romafellor Corporation, in all its glory, covered in graffiti, toilet paper, and vandalism that encompassed not only the building but the property around it.

How…how could this have happened?! What had caused such an atrocity to occur in the first place?! How was it that the paid security force was suddenly as incompetent like the guards at the Texas Governor's mansion (1)?! No one could have missed anybody doing something like this!

And yet… the employees who had been here during night hours were unable to recall anything of importance nor the actual crime that had taken place while the rest of the staff had been at home during the night.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Somebody had taken the time to write messages in spray paint and other unknown materials, all of which was being broadcasted by the nearby media. All of those messages were not only derogatory but seemed to be pinning the blame of certain and recent events that had occurred globally on the company, some of which were actually true while others were exaggerations.

Nonetheless, it was bad for business, very bad. It was difficult work trying to prevent any of the nearby cameramen and photographers from getting shots of the defacements and getting the local policemen to help proved quite useless, especially since they refused to interfere with the media's First Amendment rights as the reporters were constantly proclaiming along with the phrase: "The people have a right to know!"

Getting into the building also proved quite frustrating as he had to show ID to show that he did in fact work here as well as pushing through the throngs of people that had crowded in front of the main entrance.

This was going to be a long day, he could feel it.

--

Disbelief.

That was the only word that could describe the emotions that were currently running through Duo's body. What he was seeing on the early morning news that always came on at the ungodly hour of six o' clock…it was just too unreal.

And ridiculous. Can't forget about that one.

He felt Solo chuckled, the vibration from the action rumbling his body and taking the braided one along for the ride. He had no doubt that Solo either knew something about this or was involved somehow. He was betting on both for some reason.

It wasn't just everyday that someone messed up one of Romafellor's main offices along with the surrounding area, you know.

"Alright, talk," he sighed.

"What makes you think I had anything to do with that?" Solo asked innocently.

Duo just gave him a look.

"Ok, you got me," Solo said, caving in. "I might know who did that."

"Might?"

"Uh…yeah…?"

Duo raised an eyebrow.

"Fine, I gave Mueller a call last night," Solo confessed. "All I did was ask him to do something to piss those guys off. That's it. End of story."

"Uh huh."

"What? You think I was there too or something?"

"Wouldn't surprise me."

"Now that hurts. I thought you trusted me."

"I do. It's just that I know you better than I trust you."

"If that's how you treat your boyfriends, I don't want to be your enemy."

--

The insides of the vandalized corporate building were absolute chaos. Employees weren't doing their jobs, instead taking this as an opportunity to gossip and ignore their everyday duties. That made it difficult for Tsubarov to make his way towards Dermail's offices were he had heard the man was currently at.

Reaching the doors that led straight to his superior, Tsubarov smoothed himself down, trying to destroy any evidence of the turmoil that he had just struggled through. Once he believed that he had taken care of the worst of the damage, he pushed open the doors and entered the office where he found the old man at his desk and not looking happy one bit.

Before Tsubarov could even utter one word, he was silenced by a glare leveled at him by Dermail. "Do not say one word about what's going on beyond those doors," he growled.

Tsubarov swallowed and nodded in understanding.

Dermail's anger was not appeased in the slightest. "Would you happen to know what the cause of this travesty is?" he demanded.

"No," he answered, sweating beginning to bead up on his brow, anxiety levels skyrocketing. "This is as much a shock to me as to everybody else!"

Dermail just snorted. "It's a surprise to us all, isn't it?" he said sarcastically. "It's obvious that somebody is trying to sabotage us."

"Do you think it could be the Winners?" Tsubarov suggested.

"No, it's not them," Dermail stated. "If it were, this would reflect badly on them and that would be bad for business. Anyway, you already told me about the senior Winner's consideration of the proposal."

"Maybe it's an inside leak, someone who doesn't want this deal to go forward," Tsubarov suggested next.

"While it does have merit, only the top executives know anything about that," Dermail replied. "None would leak such a thing, especially since they all have something to gain by having the deal go through—"

In the midst of his musing, the elder man was interrupted by the buzzing sound of the intercom on his desk, alerting him that his secretary needed to tell him something.

"What?!" he snarled as he pressed the speak button.

"_Sir, you're needed on the twelfth floor,_" a nervous female voice answered him.

"What for?" Dermail demanded. "I'm busy as it already is!"

"_Sir, Mr. Romafellor is the one who called for you._"

That put a stop to Dermail's complaint. Shakily, he said, "I'll be right there."

Tsubarov swallowed again. Mr. Romafellor! Of course he would have heard about this by now! There were press outside, reporting anything and everything they could get their claws into. It was only logical that the head and owner of the entire corporation that was Romafellor would be told of this.

His eyes snapping up, Dermail glared at him. "You're coming with me, Dmitri," he snapped. "I am not going to that meeting alone."

--

The large board room held all important executives and officials of that operated Romafellor on a daily basis and all was silent. Fear and anxiety were the orders of this day and no one was immune from them.

Tsubarov found himself feeling relieved that he was not at the massive table but instead on one of the main chairs that lined the walls. Still, that relief was small and miniscule.

At the head of the table sat a man, one who time and age had been generous to as no facial wrinkles marred the smooth complexion of the man's face. Pure white hair was combed back conservatively, showing that the man was only starting to undergo the balding process but one would be hard-pressed to see that as he still had most of his hair intact. He was dressed in business attire, prim, pressed, straight, and not an inch out of place. Cold, hard, blue eyes gazed critically at each and every person in the room, keeping all in order and destroying any bravado that any could grasp hold of. Though not the tallest person (he was one of the physically smallest in the room) his presence enough was imposing, hanging over them all like the specter of death, just waiting to drop the axe onto the first unfortunate soul that dared to cross him.

This man was none other that the founder, owner, operator, and head of one of the largest firms in the world, Mr. Romafellor as all knew him, no other alias known.

There was no denying that Tsubarov was afraid. He had heard about what this man was capable of, both the facts and the rumors about him. This man was not afraid to have someone killed, even if it was just some spilled coffee on one of his many business suits as one rumor had it. There was no doubt in his mind that if he screwed up here, his death warrant would be signed.

Silence reigned as the entrance to the board room was shut. All knew that the meeting was now underway and the only person who was allowed to say anything was Mr. Romafellor and, currently, he wasn't talking. The blue eyes passed over everyone and Tsubarov felt their gaze pass over him. He shivered, not because he was cold but of the immense fear that radiated in his body.

The sound of a person clearing their throat attracted the attention of every single individual towards its source. The quiet yet sophisticated voice of Romafellor flowed into the silence instead of breaking it, leaving many to wonder if their boss was saying something or it was their imaginations.

"I do not know about the rest of you," the quiet voice spoke, "but when I woke up this morning, I expected it to be like the day before. I expected just the same routine that we have all followed day in and day out for how long? Years? Decades? Imagine how I personally felt when I turned on the morning news and find out that today was not going to be as simple as yesterday. Now I do not know about the rest of you, my esteemed colleagues, but the kind of surprise I felt was the kind that I only feel in certain circumstances. One is when I receive a surprise birthday party in my honor. Another is when a merger is successfully accomplished and just a little bit more money finds its way into my pocket. Another is when I find out that my grandchild, a little child of a mere eight years, gets the leading role as Peter Pan in his school's annual play. Now, if I am not mistaken, this current situation does not fit into any of the previous criteria, now does it?"

Not even for a second did Romafellor's voice change. It did not rise, it did not lower. It remained cool and calm yet each and every word uttered held more and more malice than the one before it. If not for the hygiene products that each person wore, the room would have filled with the stench of body odor as each man and woman's anxiety reached whole new levels.

"Now," Romafellor continued, "would someone, anyone, please, tell me…" As his voice drifted off, the tension in the room became so thick that it cut be cut with a butter knife.

Then the axe fell…with the force of a sledgehammer.

"WHY IN GOD'S NAME HAS ONE OF _MY_ BUILDINGS BEEN COVERED IN HOOLIGANS' PAINT _AND_ PUT ON THE SIX A.M. NEWS?!"

With the exception of Romafellor, everyone in the room was wide-eyed, trembling in fear at their boss' demonstration of heated anger. None wanted to be the one who spoke up first, seeking death written in the now fiery eyes of the old man.

It seemed that Romafellor wasn't expecting any responses as he continued, "This is completely unacceptable. No one here can give me a satisfactory answer or even the name of a culprit. Remind me why I pay you people again."

They all remained silent as each and every one of them struggled to find something to say that could appease the man. None could.

Romafellor didn't say anything else, though. He just sat back as his anger continued to smolder, shinning brightly for everyone to see and take heed of.

"What if we just ignore this?" a shaky voice suggested into the din of silence.

"Excuse me?" Romafellor said, eyes snapping over to the poor soul.

"What if this is just something to knock us off our horse?" the person said, continuing even though he was sure that he had just signed his own death warrant. "WEI will be looking at us closely, to see if we do anything to make them not want to agree to our proposal."

Romafellor stared at the unknown man but this time there was a thoughtful gleam in his eyes. The tension in the room lessoned though all were on their guard, waiting for the next cataclysm of fury to rain down upon them.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Romafellor spoke. "That is a valid point. We can't afford for Winner to refuse the proposal, not when there is so much to gain. He would be looking for our usual reaction to make a case against refusing."

The men and women in the room were on the verge of letting out breaths of relief as it looked like the worst was over. However, it was still too early for the celebrations to start. The meeting was not over yet and wouldn't be until Romafellor himself declared it over.

"Durban," Romafellor commanded, eyes shooting over to Dermail. "Who did you put in charge of the proposal?"

Swallowing, Dermail answered, "Dmitri Tsubarov."

"Where is he currently?" Romafellor demanded.

Not answering verbally, Dermail pointed straight at Tsubarov, who froze up like a deer staring at headlights.

"Stand up Tsubarov," Romafellor commanded. "I want to see your face."

With no other choice, Tsubarov stood up, wishing wholeheartedly that he hadn't been the one chosen to see this deal through.

"You know what's at stake, correct?" Romafellor questioned. Nodding, Tsubarov waited for the old man to continue. "I want you to listen very carefully to what I am going to tell you. I want this proposal to pass by _any means necessary_. I don't care what you have to do to accomplish it, just _do_ it. Understand?"

Tsubarov nodded, adding a "Yes sir," to the action.

"For your sake, you better," Romafellor stated wryly. "You don't want to know what I'll do to you should you fail."

At that moment, Tsubarov had never been as terrified in his life.

(1) For those of you who live in Texas, or in the Central Texas area, you know what I'm talking about. For those that don't, look it up. I'm just too lazy right now to explain the meaning of this.


	48. Performing Damage Control

Author's Note: To those who reviewed, namely Archsage Soren and ShadowMajin, I thank you one more time for your timely feedback concerning Mr. Romafellor. For the rest of you, eh, what can I say? Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Performing Damage Control

"Any means necessary?" Tsubarov said to himself as he sat in his office.

That had been a given since the beginning but now that Mr. Romafellor commanded it, it made everything that much more dire. Just yesterday he had a plan of what he was going to do. Today, that all went crashing down as he had to look his main employer dead in the eye. Unnerved couldn't begin to describe the anxiety he was feeling.

He had to do something though. The sooner he finished this deal, the sooner he could get out of it and go on to bigger and better things. First, he needed a plan.

Perhaps he could go back to that boy of his and try and get him to agree to help him out. But if yesterday was any indication, that would be easier to say than do. The boy had an unbridled hatred for him, thus making any meeting he might have with him be incredibly difficult.

So what would he do if that didn't work out? Looking down at his desk, he caught sight of a phone number scrawled on a small piece of paper. He stared blankly at it for a moment, wondering what it was for until it suddenly hit him. There was his answer, his plan B.

If the boy refused him, then he would force the boy to forfeit his life and use it as a means to force Winner into agreement. It was a sound plan, a very plain but solid plan. That was the ticket.

He'd hold off on the call until later, at least until after his next meeting with Winner and later the boy. He'd let the boy stew in his offer from yesterday a bit longer then approach him again. Yes, yes, this would work, he was positive of that.

Promotion, here he comes!

--

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about this, would you Solomon?" Raberba asked as soon as his nephew made his morning appearance for breakfast, Duo trailing after him.

It was fairly obvious what it was that Raberba was asking about. He was in the living room closest to the dining room, the T.V. on with a clear picture of the vandalized Romafellor building. Solo just stared at the image before looking up at the patriarchic Winner, playing the innocence card to the max.

"It's news to me," Solo told him but Raberba could see that the teen was trying to make his eyes as wide as they could to create a sense of surprise. He had no doubt that Solomon knew about this.

"We know about it already," Duo added in, Solomon's head snapping around to look at the braided teen in shock. "We woke up early and watch some TV before we got out of bed. That was on and we decided to find out what was going on."

Plausible. Duo's explanation seemed airtight and Raberba decided to let it go for now. It didn't seem like Duo was trying to hide something or cover up for Solomon. He nodded and dismissed them, turning back to the television he had been watching, listening in on the quiet statement given out by the head of Romafellor. He would have thought that there would have been more of a reaction from the man that was his business rival since he had had prior experience with the man. That proposal was probably what was making the response from Romafellor tame.

However, he had to admit, it was a pleasant surprise to wake up in the morning to.

--

Despite the importance of this morning's breaking news, the student population of the school had no interest in it whatsoever, especially since the majority of them were still asleep in their beds when the vandalism was first mentioned. As always, the outside world beyond the school walls meant nothing to the teens that had no choice but to populate the building for eight hours every weekday for a good amount of the year. They were all more concerned with whose make-up was hideous or who won the game last night that all the testosterone-pumped males had stayed up to watch.

It was a welcomed atmosphere, in Duo's opinion, since nothing his father did or say had any impact here. He could just pretend that everything was good and dandy and that the bastard wasn't holding parental guardianship over his head like a carrot.

Not everyone at the school, however, was ill-informed. Dorothy knew about what had happened to her grandfather's building but remained uncharacteristically silent for much of the morning as she had to witness her grandfather lose his renown control of his temper that morning. It was quite a fear inducing sight.

That meant nothing to Solo, though, as it presented him with even more Duo-doting time, something he took quick advantage of. While Duo wasn't in the funk that he had been in the day before, something that was a plus in Solo's mind, the braided one was still a bit down in the dumps.

And who wouldn't be? Just when Duo thought his father couldn't sink any lower, he proved him wrong and did just that. Then again, he was Romafellor, a qualified scumbag. He shouldn't have been too surprised by the actions the man had taken yesterday.

So maybe that justified Solo's actions as well. Duo wasn't above making things harder for his old man. The guy deserved it more than anything, especially after all the shit he had subjugated him to for years on end. This vindictive streak was enough to perk him up a bit, enough so that he could hear some of the school gossip around him and notice that his rival Dorothy was oddly quiet this morning, looking more morose than scheming. Also, he could see that Solo had dropped his usual "bad boy" act and was looking at him with affection, much to the envy of the surrounding girls.

Hey, at least he wasn't flaunting it around like some people would. He had class, if nothing else.

Of course, he went through the whole day kinda in a daze of sorts. No, he wasn't completely out of it. It was more like he was aware of everything and heard all that the teachers said that day but things just seemed to be…distant, as if they weren't that important. It was hard to describe, really.

But that was how his day went, no if, ands, or buts.

It was his story and he was sticking to it.

So when school ended that day, he wasn't really in the mood to be happy that the day was over for now. In fact, he wasn't in the mood for anything. Maybe if he just went back to the Winners' and spent some good ol' quality time with Solo, he'd be able to resume normal functions. After all, Quatre had expressed his concern over him during lunch and he didn't want to worry his best friend over a little thing like his welfare now did he?

However, seeing the foreign limo parked in the Winners' driveway was able to induce a dark mood to settle over him. He recognized the limo's plates as easily as if it had been his own and knew that he did not want to encounter his father in any way.

He did not think he would be able to restrain himself from doing anything he might regret later.

Honestly, he was most off-kilter whenever his father was in the physical vicinity. His usually upbeat attitude would always take a turn for the worst and those around him would have to endure the consequences. He still hadn't forgiven himself for beating up those street punks a few days ago, the memory always near the forefront of his mind. He wondered if the others still remembered…

He felt Solo wrap his arm around his shoulders and lead him away from the front and towards the side of the house. It seemed like Solo wanted to spare him any unpleasantries that might result should a meeting between him and his father occur. Bless that guy's heart… The back was clear, the patio empty and not in use. Solo had scouted it first before leading him towards it and in through the patio doors into the house where the blond snuck him up to his room with no run-ins or sightings of anybody, even the hired help who kept the mansion up and running.

Duo did not want to think about how Solo was able to do such a thing since chances were the blond had developed such skills back in his rebel-without-a-cause phase. Thank God he had gotten over that.

"Safe at last," Solo sighed as he locked the door behind them, leaning up against the wooden barrier as if his sneaking abilities had taken a lot out of him.

"Thanks," he mumbled, flopping onto the bed, ignoring the homework they had both been assigned during the day. His backpack laid on the floor, forgotten and unheeded, as the braided one stared up at the ceiling, a sudden lack of energy taking a hold of him.

"Could you tell me how it is you're related to that guy?" Solo asked. "He's an ugly son of a bitch and you look nothing like him. That's just…I can't understand it."

"I guess I take more after my mother," Duo sighed. "At least, that's what Howard and the others keep telling me."

"Others?" Solo perked up.

"Mom's friends," Duo elaborated. "They've been the only people who've stuck by me from the beginning. They tell me I have my mother's eyes. I wouldn't know. I don't remember her at all."

"She must have been quite the looker," Solo whistled. "You must be a carbon copy of her or something."

"I guess," Duo shrugged. "Personally, I think there was more to her than her friends let on. Even Howard's drop some things that kinda go against the whole "she was a saint" spiel that they all keep going on. My father told me once that she was a bloodsucker, an opportunist if you will, and from what I've pieced together, there's a grain of truth in it."

"Nothing about you is ever simple, is it?" Solo sighed as he plopped down on the bed next to the braided one.

"In a nutshell," Duo replied.

"At least it doesn't make it boring," Solo mused. "Never know what's going to happen next."

Duo had no answer to that and did the only thing he could do. He shrugged.

There was really no way he could argue with that, now could he?

--

"I trust that this morning's…events will not be influencing your consideration of our proposal?" Tsubarov questioned Raberba, preparing to leave and vacate the premise as his business here was currently concluded. Still, he had to make sure that nothing that happened today would interfere with future meetings and negotiations.

"I wouldn't be where I am today if I allowed myself to be swayed but what a group of vandals do with their free time," Raberba replied dryly, not wanting to be in Tsubarov's presence a minute longer than needed. "I will be focusing all my attention on your company's proposal without bias, you need not worry about that."

"I appreciate your understanding concerning this matter," Tsubarov said. "Mr. Romafellor was a bit anxious about all this. I will inform him that he need not worry about it."

"Yes, you do that," Raberba said.

As Tsubarov turned away to leave, he paused and turned back towards the Winner patriarch. "There's one last thing I'd like to talk with you about. It concerns my son. Would you happen to know of his current whereabouts? There's something I need to discuss with him."

"I'm afraid to say that I can not help you out there," Raberba answered. "I don't know where my own son is currently, much less yours."

"I understand," Tsubarov said gruffly. "I won't take up anymore of your time today. Until next time."

With the man gone, Raberba allowed himself a sigh of relief.

--

Mueller was a bit surprised at the calm reaction from Romafellor but he was far from discouraged.

He should have expected, or at least considered, this reaction. That conglomerate needed to keep up appearances, no matter the situation. However, they did not know who they were up against. He wasn't going to roll over so easily.

In fact, he had the plans for what he and a few others were going to be doing later tonight to get under Romafellor's skin. He was truly in his element here. He was striking out at the establishment that he always ranted about and there was just something more in just actually doing something about it, no matter how juvenile it was, than just complaining about it.

He had to hand it to Solo; the guy did know who to go to when he needed something.

But that still didn't mean that asshole was off the hook yet, not by a long shot.

That could wait though; he had bigger fish to fry.


	49. This is What I Think about Your Offer

Author's Note: Good news people. Updates will be coming faster and faster until this whole fic is posted. Expect one more update before the end of the week. There's still a few more chapters left to go so enjoy whatever's left.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

This is What I Think about Your Offer

Solo was more than disappointed not to hear about what had happened next to Romafellor on the morning news. If there was anything he was sure of, it was that once Mueller got somebody's attention, he didn't let it escape his grasp. That meant that whatever he started was not over yet, not by a long shot.

Still, it would have been funny to set what that maniac had come up with this time around.

He didn't have to wait for too long to learn about this. Dorothy was a fountain of information, at least this time around, and had informed him that the same building had been struck again, this time instead of being covered with graffiti and toilet paper, which was still being cleared away, it had been flooded by someone stuffing up all the toilets and sinks. Suffice to say, it was quite wet there.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Duo had asked dryly as he observed the blond's good mood from the comfort of his desk.

"Damn straight," Solo confirmed.

The braided one only shook his head but did not comment further. What else could he possibly say about this? It was better to just go with the flow than to oppose it.

"Now I'm curious," Solo continued. "What's Mueller gonna do next. It's like waiting for Christmas, honestly."

"I think you're starting to take this too seriously," Duo stated. "Do you honestly think that whatever that moron is doing is going to actually accomplish anything other than pissing those guys off?"

Well that certainly burst Solo's bubble. Still, he couldn't let Duo just downplay this. "I can think of several things," he claimed, even though he had no idea whatsoever what those things were. He was just going to do what he always did in these situations: wing it.

"Then let me put this into terms you can understand," Duo said instead. "You can mess up any number of their buildings and stores and whatnot but the most it can do is damage the property. That's it. They'll just clean it up and spend what might seem like a lot of money to a lot of people but is really only a drop in the bucket for them. The only real way to hurt them is to hit them in their wallets which nothing of what Mueller's doing is going to do that."

Solo blinked at the well of information that Duo was spouting at him. He hadn't really thought about it that way. However, Duo was not done yet, continuing to crush and demolish whatever fantasy that the blond had entertained.

"Now, in order to break them, you have to mess with their products, like their storewares. If you can convince people not to buy stuff from them, that's what's going to get their attention, that's what's going to hurt them. But even if you do do that, that company has a lot more source of revenue coming in so even if they did loose one of their outlets, there's plenty more where that came from and others still around to fill up the void. Like your family's business, Romafellor's going to be here still, even when both you and I are six feet under."

"Oh yeah," Solo grumbled as he folded his arms onto his desk and dropped his head into them, "go ahead and crush my dreams while you're at it."

"Hey, the truth's the truth," Duo shrugged. "I don't like it either."

Glancing up with a single eye, Solo asked, "How'd you know all that stuff anyway?"

Duo snorted. "Perhaps if you paid more attention in Economics you would have known this too," he answered dryly. "There was a whole chapter dedicated to both your family's company and Romafellor. In fact, if you're planning on upholding the family business, you're gonna have to start really paying attention in that class anyway."

"Yes Dad," Solo mocked as he buried his head into his arms again.

--

It was the period after lunch when Duo got the call to come up to the main office again. Giving a long suffered sigh as if this was really a big deal, he got up and left the classroom, mentally noting that it was Home Ec. and Solo was there all alone again.

Let's see how long he lasts without him again.

He took his time trudging through the hallways, a sinking feeling growing in his gut that something was different this time around. He had doubts that it was Howard since Howard only came here to inform him of the recent happenings in court, something that would not be occurring currently. Still, one could have hope.

Entering into the office, he was informed that an old man was there to see him and when he asked if it was Howard (mainly because the gals here practically knew the guy by sight by now), he received a negative. The sinking feeling only grew as he was pointed towards the principal's office, the principal not there right now. This meant he was going to have a private conversation with whoever it was that wanted to meet with him.

He was in no way surprised when he found his father waiting there for him. It kinda figured when he thought about it. His father was the only other old man who would want to speak with him during school hours, even though he only called him out once before, a few years back to be precise.

As the door closed behind him, his father said, "I didn't see you yesterday when I visited the Winners."

"You may not know this but I do have a life that doesn't revolve around you," Duo retorted as he remained standing, crossing his arms defensively over his chest. "What do you want now?"

If Tsubarov was in anyway offended by his bluntness, he didn't show it. "Since you weren't at the Winners' yesterday, I wasn't able to ask you about my offer from the other day."

Duo blinked in confusion, wondering what the old fart was talking about when it came back to him. He must have shown his confusion and sudden enlightenment as Tsubarov nodded knowingly at him, smirking.

"Due to recent happenings, I'm afraid that I'm going to need your answer now," Tsubarov said. "So what's it going to be? Do you want me to finally acknowledge you as my next of kin, my son?"

It all came back to him now and Duo's eyes narrowed. Oh, it was this again, huh? The nerve of this guy! Did he honestly believe that he, Duo, was just going to fall down on his knees and beg for him to do something that he had long given up on as a child, as a little boy who only wanted to be accepted by the only parent that he still had?

This asshole really needed a reality check or something because Duo only had one answer for him.

"Why don't you just shove it up your ass?" he growled at the man who actually looked surprised at his answer. "After all the shit you put me through, do you honestly think that I'm going to take it now? You're dumber than Heero trying to get Relena to stalk him again. Besides, I already told you no!"

"You can't blame me for wanting to give you a second chance," Tsubarov shrugged. "I mean, you are my son, after all."

"Get out of here," Duo hissed, his violet eyes dark with suppressed anger that was just dieing to get out. "I don't want to have anything to do with you. I don't want to know you; I don't want to see you; I don't want to hear of you ever again! Just go."

"As you wish," Tsubarov said as he stood up. As he passed Duo to reach the door that would take him out of the office, he stopped beside him though he didn't look at the braided one. "However, you will regret this, mark my words," the man stated, his voice deep and colored with the promise of a threat. "This is far from over, whore-spawn."

Duo only saw red and his body trembled with hatred and leashed violence. He had to restrain himself from tearing this bastard apart; he was still in school for Christ's sake! He remained in the office, tempering his vicious tendencies as best as he could, not wanting to do anything he would regret, namely trashing the principal's office. It's not like he didn't want to, it's just he didn't want to get detention, suspended, or maybe expelled for it. He still needed to get back to class where Solo would undoubtedly notice the change in him and pester him about it until he talked. It was going to happen anyway but he didn't want the other students to know what went on in his fucked up private life.

After a few minutes of finally pulling himself back together and getting a hold on his temper, he exited the office and headed back to class.

--

"Drive," Tsubarov ordered curtly to his driver as he got into his limo. As the elongated automobile began to move, Tsubarov took out his cell phone and dialed a number he was all too familiar with.

Pressing the receiver to his ear, he waited as the phone picked up the signal and alerted to him that the other's phone was ringing. He didn't have to wait very long for the other side to pick up as they always did in a prompt and orderly fashion.

"I have need of your services again," Tsubarov stated. "I will be sending you half of your standard fee later today, the other half will be given upon completion of your end, as always."

He paused for a few seconds, listening to the other's short reply before continuing. "The name of your target is Dwaine 'Duo' Maxwell. That's D, W, A, I, N, E; M, A, X, W, E, L, L. Got that? Is there anything else that you need?"

Once again stopping, he listened to the much longer answer. "Good then. Expect a deposit in your account later today."

Hanging up, Tsubarov suppressed a smug smile he closed his phone and put it away. He was good always having a back up plan, just in case something went wrong or didn't quite go his way. He had said that the boy was going to regret spurning him, hadn't he? It was too bad that he wouldn't be around long enough to learn that answer.

Then again, why else would he have called a professional hitman and assassin to teach him this lesson? Sure he had tried this method before, his usual hired guns unsuccessful in previous attempts but he hadn't sent _this_ particular one before. Results with this guy were always guaranteed and he hadn't failed to complete a single job to date.

At last, things were beginning to look up.

However, there was one thing that was still bugging him.

Who was this Heero and why the hell did he want some girl named Relena to stalk him?

--

"Howard need to talk to you?" Solo asked as soon as the braided one returned to his seat. Even though he had gone as slow as he possibly could without being reprimanded for not being in class, there was still quite some time left and he would have to help Solo finish up their latest assignment from Ms. Bloom.

"Guess again," Duo muttered.

"You mean someone else wanted to talk to you?" Solo questioned, confused. "Was it the principal or something?"

"Nice guess but no," Duo answered.

"Then who?" Solo demanded.

"I'll give you a hint: he's old, ugly, and looks like a child molester," Duo stated dryly.

Solo frowned before his eyes brightened in recognition. "Your father again? What the hell did he want this time?"

"Tried to bribe me with parental recognition," Duo told him. "I said no, again, and then he said that I was going to regret it and left."

"He's full of it," Solo muttered.

"Not really," Duo commented airily. "If he makes a threat, he usually goes through with it. You do know that he has tried to kill me on several times, right?"

"Then why didn't you say yes?" Solo demanded.

"I would have to do something for him first, namely make sure that Romafellor's proposal goes through and is accepted by your uncle," Duo replied. "I'm not about to do something like that and I would rather be a living vegetable than be his son."

"We're going to have to do something about him," Solo sighed.

"We? Look, he can't just disappear right now, especially since Romafellor can accuse you guys of doing something to one of their employees, maybe even blackmail you into accepting the deal," Duo explained.

"Just have to make it look like an accident," Solo argued.

"Did you forget; you're high profile. Corporate assassinations are not unheard of," Duo retorted. "The public knows about them and it's bad publicity for WEI if that were to happen."

"I hate it when you use logic against me," Solo complained.

"Yeah, that's me, the logical guy," Duo sighed. "Gotta ruin everybody's fantasies of a perfect world."

"You could at least try to humor me," Solo muttered childishly.

"If I did that, you'd never grow up, now would you?" Duo replied cheekily, dropping the conversation no matter what Solo did to keep it alive. The last thing Duo wanted was to have to do homework later.


	50. Through the Eyes of a Professional

Author's Note: Well, it seems like Ike is going to miss me, thus I am able to keep my word, as usual, and give you the latest chapter by the end of this week. Let the suspense escalate! Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Through the Eyes of a Professional

To all that surrounded him, he seemed like a typical man. There was nothing unusual with him except for a certain coldness that he held around himself like a second skin, repelling anybody that tried to get to know him. Otherwise, he was above suspicion of both his neighbors and just about anybody who would be interested in his real business.

His name was Odin Lowe and he was a professional assassin that had yet to fail a single job in his thirty years of killing off people in exchange for monetary imbursement.

It was needless to say that he was good at what he did. He didn't make any mistakes that would lead back to either him or his employer and he would never accept another contract that interfered with a previous one. He was quick and to the point and did not waste time with trivial matters like small talk unless it was required to get the job down. He could blend in with his surroundings easily and understood how a normal person thought, taking ruthless advantage of it to ensure that his jobs went smoothly. The last thing he would need to do was to get a witness and have to kill them too in order to bury the truth.

Just now he had received a call from a regular client. It wasn't the first time he had had dealings with the Romafellor Corporation and certainly not the first time Dmitri Tsubarov had contacted him before. What was different was who the target he needed to eliminate was.

One thing he liked to be was inform, especially when it concerned a target. Thus when he began to look up info on this Dwaine Maxwell, he was caught off guard by what he found. Usually when he was hired, the target was someone who was of some great importance, such as a businessman or a politician but never before had he been hired to kill a high school student. He was tempted to quit the job then and there but decided not to. Just because it was some punk teenager didn't mean that he was spared from being killed, no far from it. Sure, he had his self-imposed boundaries and even though this Dwaine Maxwell was at them, he wasn't quite beyond them.

All that meant was the boy was open season.

However, it was almost like some sort of mocking of his skills. There was no challenge in this and he always did enjoy a challenge. The greater the difficulty, the greater the effort he put in. So yeah, that meant he wouldn't put too much effort into this. All he needed to do was to figure out a non-traceable way to kill this kid and collect on the rest of his money.

His standard fee wasn't cheap by any means so this should just be a snap.

--

"I still say we need to do something about that guy," Solo said as they exited the school building. "We gotta show him whose boss around here, ya know?"

"What's with this 'we' shit?" Duo countered. "I don't want to have anything to do with whatever you're thinking. I just want for this to finish up and leave me the fuck alone with as little pain as possible, okay?"

"C'mon!" Solo whined as he practically draped himself all over Duo despite the fact that Duo's backpack was in the way, obstructing him. "It'll be fun!"

"Your idea of fun is different from mine," Duo stated firmly.

"Don't be such a spoilsport!" Solo complained. "Live a little Short Stuff!"

"Keep this up and you aren't going to get lucky tonight," Duo muttered below his breath, too quiet for the childish blond to hear. Aloud, he said, "That's me alright, the spoilsport remember? If I told you once, I've told you a million times, I'm not going to let you walk over me like everyone else does."

"And I wouldn't like you any other way," Solo chirped.

"And now you're just sucking up," Duo retorted. "You'd do better if you stayed acting like a rebel without a cause, you know that?"

"I already tried that and it didn't work," Solo complained.

"So you think acting like a kid half your age is going to have better results, huh?" Duo groused.

"It's better than nothing," Solo mumbled to himself even though Duo heard him clearly, something the blond did not want.

"In this case, nothing would have been better," Duo said dryly. "Might as well give it up lover boy. You ain't gonna win this one."

"I haven't lost yet," Solo replied, "and I'm not about to start now." He paused as he began to rub his cheek against Duo's head affectionately. "Stop resisting and go with the flow. I won't let you get in trouble if that's what you're worried about. C'mon, it'll be fun."

Solo could feel it; Duo was getting ready to cave in. The way he was trembling, he could tell it wasn't in anger. No, this was the type of trembling Duo usually experienced while they were…he probably had a goofy smile on now from the memories but he had to wipe it off quickly so that it didn't ruin any chance he had to persuade Duo into his line of thinking, not that it was hard before but the guy was really putting up a struggle this time around. Maybe just a little push was all that was needed…

"Duo…" he purred into the braided one's ear, his hot breath tickling the smaller one's ear. Duo was practically about to shudder; he had him in the palm of his hands. He blew some air out of his mouth into the flesh of skin that was Duo's ear, hoping to destroy all resistance that he had left.

Instead of stopping and bowing to his greatness, as he had thought he would, Duo pushed himself away roughly and put his foot down firmly on the debate. "I said no!" Duo exclaimed. "I said you weren't going to walk over me and I meant it! I'm just going to wait until your uncle, Quatre's father, comes to a decision about that business deal and that's it. Okay?"

"Okay okay," Solo muttered as he put his hands into his pockets sulkily. "If that's what you want…"

"It is," Duo stated, not falling for Solo's attempt to garner some pity.

Sighing, Solo trudged behind the braided one. He couldn't understand why Duo didn't want to get back at his old man for the crap the asshole put him through and still was. Duo was acting in a manner that was completely different from the Duo that he had come to know over the past few weeks. Whenever Duo's bastard of a father was brought up, Duo's attitude would always change without fail, making him seem like a completely different person. If only whatever it was that his uncle was doing with Duo's father would be finished, Solo was sure that his little boyfriend would go back to the way he used to be; you know, the small, fierce, independent teen who just happened to be able to kick his ass without much of a problem.

If he had a sixth sense, it was going off. His head perked up and he sent a glare in a random direction, green eyes connecting with onyx ones. Well what do you know, it had been a while since he looked at Wufei. The Chinese was watching both him and Duo with a scowl on his face that just made him look crumpled just so. Solo intensified his glare and didn't break it off until Wufei looked away.

Ha, he still had it.

--

Even though he had been caught looking at the two queers, the taller of the two said queers being the one who caught him, Wufei still fumed and desired nothing more than to take his anger out on the very ones that had caused his foul mood.

Only a few weeks ago, he was on top of the world, actually being one of the most popular persons in this entire school, respected and practically worshiped by his peers. Then the new guy, a punk who just happened to belong to a very powerful and wealthy family, had to come in and send his world topsy-turvy by hanging around with the one person that he hated more than anybody in the world. And now he was practically dirt nothing to those that had once respected him. All he had left was his friendship with Heero Yuy but even that was growing tenuous as the Japanese youth was determined to gain back the unwanted attention of Relena Peacecraft who was currently in a relationship with Heero's back-up on the football team.

It was all just screwed up, wasn't it? Things weren't suppose to be this way. The very prison of isolation that he had built around that braided rat was now the very place that he inhabited and he was not happy about it, not one bit. As he had scowled at the two long haired bastards that had put him here, he entertained thoughts of ripping them to shreds, inflicting as much pain as he could accomplish. Then the punk blond looked up and glared at him. He had refused to look away but ultimately had to since the vehemence in that glare was overpowering.

But that still did nothing to quell the negative emotions just boiling below the surface. They continued to fester within him, like an infection, and he was not about to purge it just yet.

He had no plan of action to gain retribution on either of the two; he couldn't think of one that could adequately satisfy his need for vengeance. Oh how he was just dieing to poke out their eyes, rip their hair out, cut out their tongues… Such violent imagery flashed before his mind's eye, each one becoming steadily more graphic than the one before it.

Was he close to losing his mind, he wondered. Maybe, he mentally answered, but he could care less about it. So what? It wasn't as if he had anything else that could be taken from him. At least, nothing of importance to him. If he could, he'd sell his metaphorical soul to just get the opportunity to gain some sort of justice for injustices thrusted upon him by those two…_faggots_.

He just needed the chance, the opportunity, the opening that would give him all his heart's desires and the satisfaction that all the wrongs bestowed upon him would be avenged.

--

Odin observed his target from the safety of his car, watching the braided brunet enter into a limousine, followed by a long haired blond that he would have probably confused for a female had he not picked out the obvious masculine features.

It was extremely rare to find hair that long, especially if it was a man sporting such hair in the first place. Had he been anybody else, he would have thought the blond was a female, but he had caught the gait, the stance, the air that the boy had and he didn't have to get a good look up close to come to this conclusion. That's why he was one of the best in the business, especially since no one would see him observing it since he was quite a distance away. As for the brunet with the braid, he had been told that he was a male in the first place, thus there was no confusion on that part.

Through his binoculars, he observed their behavior, frowning slightly at the intimate antics but disregarding them as inconsequential. Further observation led him to find out about the Chinese boy that was staring out them with an aura of malevolence. He took note of it but otherwise ignored it. It wasn't his concern if these two boys had an enemy or two.

Anything of importance that caught his eye he would scribble down into a small notebook that he always carried with him when on reconnaissance. From the notes that he took, he would then determine the best way of how to approach his target and then how to proceed in eliminating them. His preferred weapon of choice was his high-powered sniper rifle, the one possession of his own that was his pride and joy. With the right angle, he could take out any person in the city if he so felt like it.

Fortunately, he was a creature of will and restraint. Bullets cost money, thus people cost money and he wasn't cheap, not by a long shot. Everyone had their price in his book; if offered enough he'd cancel his contract right here and now.

The key word being _if_, of course.

Watching the limo begin to drive off, he put his notebook down and switched gears, proceeding to follow after his target and to gather more information. He'd come to a decision tonight after going through everything that he had collected. He could work on a couple hours worth of sleep unlike the majority of the human race.

Tomorrow, tomorrow would be the last day this kid would live.

Somebody was going to die.


	51. Schemers of the World Unite

Author's Note: Sorry ShadowMajin but I'm afraid I won't be satisfying your desire for a body count today. Maybe later. Now for somemore suspense. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

Schemers of the World Unite

"So what prompted this?" Duo asked as he gazed at his sundae in awe.

"Just felt like it," Solo answered, holding an ice cream cone in hand, an elbow propped up on the table as he observed the braided one indulgently. "Is it a crime to buy ya something just because I feel like it?"

"Not when it's this," Duo replied, eyes devouring the frozen treat before it could enter his mouth. Using his spoon to scoop up a wad of the ice cream, Duo paused and looked up at Solo, his mouth wide open and nearly watering. "This isn't some bribe, is it?" he asked.

Putting his hand to his chest, just over his heart, Solo put on a mock-hurt expression. "Do you really have so little faith in me?" he exclaimed. "That hurts, no really, it does. Do you honestly think I would stoop that low?"

"Yes," Duo deadpanned.

Solo gaped at him, his mouth falling open. Duo just raised an eyebrow and finally stuck his spoonful of sundae into his mouth, sucking the dessert off the eating utensil before taking it back out and spooning another bit of ice cream.

"Trying to catch flies?" Duo asked when the blond remained silent.

Snapping his mouth shut, Solo grumbled to himself and licked at his cone, purposefully stringing it out so as to taunt the braided one in some juvenile scheme to get Duo to feel hot and bothered.

It was a plan that was doomed to fail.

"Gonna have to do better than that," Duo commented absentmindedly, his undivided attention focused solely on the sundae in front of him.

Solo pouted but was ignored in favor of the sundae. By now, Duo should have known that Solo didn't take too kindly to being ignored. Just watching as Duo ate that thing…kinda made him…yeah… Maybe he should focus more on his own ice cream before he did something inappropriate in public. He didn't really care about what the public thought about him but Duo seemed more conscious of his surroundings, more so than any normal person should at any rate.

Still, the way Duo was so focused on that spoon and the way his lips were doing its magic on the small piece of metal or whatever it was made of, it was making him a bit hot under the collar and whenever he was hot under the collar, he usually began removing some clothes if you know what he means.

Duo was very lucky he was out in public, wasn't he?

"Whatever it is you're thinking about, stop it," Duo's voice suddenly cut into his musings.

Grinning, Solo replied, "So you're a mind reader now, huh?"

"No. You just have this dopey smile on your face and your ice cream's been melting all over your hand."

"It is?" Solo blinked and looked at said appendage. "Well what do you know," he said, as if the very thing he was looking at happened everyday.

"Are you going to clean it up?" Duo asked.

Grinning wickedly at Duo, Solo snaked his tongue out and began to lick off the melted treat sensually from his hand. He took in the perverse satisfaction that Duo was blinking at him owlishly. Winking at him, he was giddy as he saw the blush that grew on the braided one's face.

Perhaps this trip wasn't a complete loss after all.

Duo quickly adverted his eyes away and it was obvious that he was trying to ignore him and focus all of his attention on his melting sundae. This only fed Solo's overbearing ego but he was feeling generous today. He'd let his little braided one off the hook for now but when they got back home and the first chance they were alone…heh heh heh…

--

Continuing to watch the target, Odin scribbled into his pocket notebook again as he took a lick on his own bought ice cream. It was better than waiting out in the car and he didn't look half as suspicious as he would have had he just stared at the braided teen.

Already he had answered questions regarded his unusual activity with a story about doing research, either for a television show or for some sociological evidence gathering. Thus far, he was underneath everyone's radar and that was exactly how he liked it. Since he had given a good enough answer to the curious, he was invisible now.

Dispassionately, he observed the antics that the two teens were involved with. He kept his eyes busy by making them dart around the ice cream parlor to give some weight to illusion, periodically eating the fattening dessert that he would normally never buy. He spaced his licks accordingly so that he wouldn't be finished before the two teens. He didn't want to have to be forced to leave and endure being outside where he couldn't keep a close eye on them now would he?

Still, if those boys would stop fucking around and finish up then he wouldn't have to become concerned at how rapidly his ice cream was going. Under no circumstances did he want to buy another one, not because he would give him a big distraction but because he couldn't bear to eat another one and suffer the consequences of obesity that he was sure would follow. He made a mental note that he needed to work this junk food out of his system later on tonight; he was in the best shape of his life currently and wanted to keep it that way.

Finally, it seemed like the two teens were getting ready to leave. He left his table and threw the rest of his ice cream away, unable to eat another bite of it, and left the parlor long before the two teens even got up from their chairs. It would be too suspicious to leave right after them so why not leave _before_ so you could get your car started up and ready to give chase?

It was how he operated and it hadn't failed him yet. Being able to blend in with a crowd was one thing but being able to use it was another and Odin was proud to say that he could do both.

It was why he had never been identified or questioned as an assassin before.

--

"So what now?" Duo groused as the limo pulled up into the driveway.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Solo demanded as he got out of the automobile, puzzled.

"You have something you're going to use against me to try and give you permission to do something against my father," Duo stated humorlessly, following the blond out of the limo.

"And what makes you say that?" Solo asked wryly.

"Well, you tried to talk me into it during school, you tried to bribe me with a sundae," Duo counted off, "and things usually come in threes, meaning you must still have something up your sleeve that you're going to use as a last ditch effort to get my blessings or whatever it is that you are after."

Solo blinked owlishly at the long explanation. A grin slowly began to grow on his face and he said, "Aw, you just want to know if I'm gonna do something to ya, huh?"

"Catching on, huh? So what is it?"

"You think so little of me, don't you?" Solo sighed dramatically. "Haven't you considered that I might not be thinking of something?"

"Impossible. You always have some sort of back up plan," Duo quipped. "I'm just not in the mood for waiting for it to come so get it over with already."

"Well, you're going to be waiting a long time then since I got nothing," Solo stated smugly and strolled ahead towards the front door.

Duo stood there, blinking, before his eyes narrowed and he began to walk quickly to catch up to Solo. "You know, lying really doesn't become you," he called out.

"And I don't lie," Solo shot back, an amused grin. He was indeed telling the truth on this one but it was entertaining seeing Duo trying to call him out on it. The guy just hadn't learned that no matter what, he would never win against him.

Still, it was cute how he always tried anyway.

--

Odin was no stranger to this part of the city, nor did he have any surprise as to whose mansion it was that he was idling in front of. He had seen and been in enough of these buildings before that he was not impressed in any way, shape, or form by them. He did note that this was the famed Winner Estate, but even knowing of the prestigious family that lived within those walls meant nothing to him.

What it did mean was that he would have to be careful when trying to physically go after the target. The Winners undoubtedly had a state-of- the-art home security system and while that hadn't stopped him from breaking and entering before, it was just that he was hired to kill just one person and one person alone. Others cost extra and since Tsubarov didn't want to spend the extra money, that meant his options were further limited.

There had to be a lot of people in there, hired help, the Winners themselves, any other person or people that were invited in, and, of course, the target. How was he going to get close enough to kill the boy without anyone seeing him? He recalled that Tsubarov didn't want it to look like some professional had come in and done the deed since it would endanger some sort of business deal that meant nothing to him. Thus his options were further limited.

His mind analyzed all sorts of methods he could call upon, a bomb being the one thing he kept coming back to for some reason. Why was he thinking about using an explosive? He wasn't being paid to take out the Winner family.

He snuck onto the estate grounds themselves to further contemplate what to do. As he drew close to a certain part of the mansion, a smell entered his nostrils and it took only a second to identify it as gas.

Then it clicked. An incendiary device combined with natural gas in the air itself! As long as the device itself was incinerated, it would be considered an accident and nobody would be the wiser. First, he needed to see if anybody from the local plant had been out here to fix the gas line that should be running beneath the house itself. If so, then it would make things trickier; if not, then he could have a legitimate reason for being on the estate grounds with no suspicions whatsoever. All else that was needed to be done was to somehow get the device into his target's hands.

All this paraded in his mind even as he left the grounds undetected and down a couple of blocks to where he had parked his car. As he got into the vehicle and started it up, he made a mental list of what he had and what he would need to get to make the bomb itself along with a container to hide it in.

--

Solo was amused by the end of the day to see Duo practically frazzled, holding whatever laughter that sought to bubble up out of him as it seemed like his poor boyfriend was at the point of tearing his hair out as he demanded to know what the blond was up to.

"I told you, I'm not up to anything," he said as began to strip, preparing to go take a shower if only to get out of Duo's ire temporarily. "What's so hard to believe about that?"

"But…but you always…!" Duo began, though the argument was blazing inside him, he was running out of the means to convey his reasons to why he thought the way he did. It was obvious to him, even now as he took off his wifebeater, that Duo was doing whatever it took not to lose whatever it was that he was fighting for.

"How many times do I have to tell you this: you think too much," he chided, a finger pressing itself up against Duo's nose, the braided one's eyes crossing to try and glare at the appendage. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a shower. Just lay your pretty little head on that pillow and wait for me, okay?"

Duo's eyes narrowed, as if trying to find some sort of possible plot that Solo could come up with while taking a shower. "Like hell you are," the braided one stated, his violet eyes blazing.

"Oh really?" Solo raised an eyebrow. "Well you'd better think again if you think you're gonna stop me. I'm going in there whether you like it or not so either you can go to bed or you can join me."

Duo just stared at him for a few seconds before his arms began to move of their own accord and begin to loosen up his clothing. "So be it," he grumbled.

If Solo showed any shock at this, it was hidden away well. In fact, Solo was quite pleased at this odd development in his day. In his perverse mind, he could see things rapidly heading in his favorite direction, the one which involved crossing home base.

It sure was going to be _fun_ tonight.


	52. The Smell that Preceeds Disaster

Author's Note: It's time to get down to it. I think the warning should tell you all you want to know about this chapter and be prepared. You should all know by now that none are safe from me, be they Gundam pilots or normal people. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai, death

The Smell that Precedes Disaster

Wufei woke up in a foul mood that morning.

That was the short and long of it. He had woken up sometime in the early morning hours and had glared up at the ceiling of his room until he had to get up and get ready for school. All that did was serve to put him in a fouler mood as he couldn't find one of his shoes, which made him late for breakfast. In the end, he found it by the fireplace that had enamored him since he had been a young boy but had to just grab a piece of toast as he would be late if he stayed to eat the full course meal itself.

So yeah, when he approached the school building, he did not have a full stomach, he hadn't gotten the full eight hours of sleep he needed to be functional for the day, and was all around in a bad mood. He was more than sure that the rest of this day was going to be bad, if not worse than this morning.

Fortunately for him, he didn't have to deal with the rest of the student body or the teachers who would have undoubtedly given him a hard time. No, he had the luxury of being an office assistant for his first period and since it was usually slow early in the morning, he didn't have to do much of anything thus was able to have the time to try and gain some sort of semblance of his usual demeanor.

Yes, it was quiet this morning, something he was extremely grateful for. The main office was empty this morning as the principal and assistant principals were currently out and about in the school itself, the office aides/secretaries were doing their usual business, and the front desk attendant was currently late arriving for today so that meant he was to hold that role down until she got here. Not that he was complaining about it since he didn't have to get up and help out with other office tasks that he had been acquainted with since he first signed up for this.

"Excuse me."

The deep voice ripped through his peace of mind but the Chinese teen couldn't allow his irritation to show as he was not among the rest of the student body but with adults who were older than him and didn't take crap from anyone younger than them. He sat up straighter and prepared to greet the latest arrival in the office.

What he found was a very tall man who expressed the same amount of emotion as a brick wall would, said man's eyes boring into him. The man was dressed in the plain, brown uniform of a postal worker and held in his hands a rectangular, brown wrapped package that was as big as a box of cigars. He could see mailing stamps on the package but the man's hand was covering the name of the recipient of said package.

Blinking, Wufei spoke, "Can I help you?"

The man stared at him as if unused to such social interaction before realizing that he had just been asked a question. "Uh, yes. Yes you can. I have a…delivery for a Dwaine Maxwell."

Wufei frowned. Who was Dwaine Maxwell? He had never heard of such a person and did whoever this Dwaine Maxwell was even attend this school? Still, it would be best if he just accepted the package and make sure that this Dwaine Maxwell got it.

"I'll make sure that he gets it," Wufei said as he held out a hand to receive the package.

The man hesitated, as if he didn't want to relinquish it. Frowning at the dilemma, Wufei clear his throat to try and speed this thing up. Finally, the man handed the package to him and left briskly. Wufei could only blink at the occurrence. Wasn't a signature required for something like this, something that said that the delivery had been accomplished? Then again, it wasn't any of his business now was it? First thing was first, he needed to find out where Dwaine Maxwell was and call him into the office so that he could pick up his package.

He turned to the computer at his side and brought up the names of all the students that attended the school and began to scroll down it. It was easy enough to find the name Dwaine Maxwell but something struck him as funny. There was only one person in the school with the surname of Maxwell listed. He was more than positive that that rat known as Duo also had that surname yet his name wasn't anywhere in the list. Frowning, Wufei decided to delve further into the matter as he opened the student's file and checked on the chosen student's class schedule. He was more baffled as he found out he had a class with this so-called Dwaine Maxwell, at least two of them. But he was sure that in both of those class he had that queer rat in them.

Unless…

Then his eyes widened in clarity. Dwaine Maxwell and Duo Maxwell were one and the same! That was the only explanation for this anomaly! He looked back at the recently delivered package and stared at it, finding that there was no return address on it.

So here he was with an unknown package addressed to the bane of his existence and he didn't have any idea as to who had sent it to him. The rat's luck as of late had been quite good; there was a great chance that whatever was in this thing it was something that would make that fag's life better. Why should he have everything handed to him? Hadn't he, Wufei, suffered enough already? Didn't he deserve a break of some kind?

His mind was made up. He would take this package home with him and find out what was inside. If it was something good, he'd keep it and if it was something bad, he'd give it to the faggy rat tomorrow and enjoy the show. But what if it was something that didn't help or hurt? He'd keep it anyway, just in case.

All he needed to do now was to just say he'd give this to the rat to the rest of the main office and hope that it would cover him until he got home later that day.

--

It had been much simpler than he had anticipated. Odin was back in his car and was immediately out of the school zone as fast as he could without breaking the speed limit. The last thing he needed was to get a ticket that would connect him to what was to happen later on today.

Now all he had to do was wait a few hours before heading to the Winner Estate and opening up a gas pipe. He was confident that nothing could go wrong with this.

Absolutely nothing.

--

"I was beginning to wonder how long it was going to take."

Those were the first words uttered at lunch and what was surprising was that it was Trowa of all people who said them.

Duo stared at the unibanged teen in confusion. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"The other guys on the team found out about my part in beating up Heero," Trowa explained nonchalantly.

"When did you…oh, right," Duo began to argue but stopped as he recalled exactly what Trowa had been referring to.

"It took them long enough," Solo commented. "Some geniuses they are, huh?"

"My thoughts exactly," Trowa agreed.

"Are they holding it against you?" Quatre questioned worriedly, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder in a preempting attempt to comfort.

"A few of them are," Trowa shrugged. "Maybe about half the team. It doesn't matter really since I quit anyway."

"You what?!" Duo sputtered, coughing out some of the milk that he had been drinking, Solo patting him on the back helpfully. "But…I thought you loved football too much to give it up!"

"If my being there affects the team negatively, why should I stay?" Trowa shrugged emotionlessly. "It _is_ a team after all and no one person is the center of it, or at least is not suppose to be. I'm just doing what's best for the team, that's all."

"But aren't you trying to get a scholarship for playing?" Duo demanded. "You can't give up on that man, it's too important. Screw the team! You're future is on the line for this!"

"I knew I might have to do this the moment I agreed to help Quatre and Solo get back at Heero for you," Trowa stated. "It was a risk I was willing to take. It's just that I lost this round. Don't worry about me, it's not a big deal; I'll think of something."

"But how else are you going to go to college?" Duo asked shrewdly. "It isn't exactly cheap you know and do you really think you can afford it for long?"

"Let me worry about that," Trowa replied. "If given the choice to either do what I did or not do it, I'd do it all over again. I don't regret it one bit."

"I think that's the most words you've even said to me in a conversation," Duo said, blinking owlishly. "Ever," he added.

"You'd be surprised how much he can say," Quatre said dryly.

"I bet you know that from personal experience," Solo jabbed, winking at his cousin knowledgeably, Quatre blushing at the implication.

"He didn't mean that and you know it," Trowa intervened, giving the smaller blond a comforting glance.

"Yeah, stop being a pervert all the time," Duo added in, grumbling.

"You like it and you know it," Solo challenged good-naturedly.

"Shut it guys!" Quatre suddenly hissed. "We have company!"

From the way Quatre was looking, both of the long haired teens assumed that he was looking at something or someone behind them. Duo was the only one of the two to investigate Quatre's sudden warning by turning his head, his eyes catching sight of one of the main offices ladies, one that he practically knew by heart due to the amount of times he had had to go up there.

"Mrs. Darlian!" he greeted perkily. "How's it going?"

The middle aged woman smiled down at the braided teen, her eyes brightening in pleasure. "Everything is going smoothly," she answered, her voice containing a motherly tone that could immediately calm down even the most emotionally unstable of teenagers. All of the four teens felt a certain aura of relaxation fall over them as the kind woman gazed at them. "It's a pleasure to run into you outside of the office," Mrs. Darlian commented. "By the way, did Wufei give you that package yet?"

Huh? What? "Package?" the braided one repeated. "Not yet," he continued. "I'll go find him later."

"You do that," Mrs. Darlian replied. "I hope you're having a good day with your friends Duo. If you'll excuse me, I have my own lunch to get to."

"By all means," Duo said. "Talk to ya later."

As the woman left, Solo looked down at the braided one with a raised eyebrow. "What was that all about?" he demanded curiously.

"That was just Mrs. Darlian, she works in the main office," Duo answered, still fondly watching said woman disappear amongst the crowd of teens and faculty that watched over them like hawks. "I hope you don't mind if I have a friendly conversation with her…unless you're jealous of her."

"What about that package she mentioned?" Trowa brought up. "What did she mean about that?"

"Don't know," Duo replied truthfully, "but she did mention Wufei in the same sentence. That asshole just might know what she's talking about. I'm thinking about paying him a visit after school."

--

It was with impatience that Duo waited for the final bell to ring and end school for that day. Before it had even finished ringing, he was up out of his seat, his backpack hanging from one shoulder, and practically out of the door. His pace was quick and steady as he power-walked to the school's main entrance where he would have a good view of all the students leaving, Wufei sure to be one of them.

"What's your hurry?" demanded a frazzled Solo who had been unfortunate enough to be caught in the slow moving traffic that consisted of the student body. Needless to say, the blond was a bit put out at how slow the other teens were, always moving at the same speed whether it was going to next period or leaving school itself.

"I still want to have a talk with Wufei," the braided one answered absently as his violet eyes were scanning the mob of students leaving the building. "If I wait for him out front, he's sure to come by."

"You could have waited for me," Solo mumbled sulkily as he leaned up against the school building itself.

"You're a big boy, you can handle it," Duo replied even as he continued to stare out in front of him, not even glancing back to the long haired blond next to him.

Solo folded his arms childishly over his chest and continued to sulk as he did not receive any attention. It probably would have been worth a giggle or two later had Duo cared enough to throw the blond a glance but since he didn't , it was a moot point.

Upon catching sight up a peculiar head of raven black hair, violet eyes gleamed with achievement. Without giving Solo any hint as to what he was doing, Duo left his self-appointed post, heading straight towards what was becoming undoubtedly the person he was looking for. He could hear Solo swear from behind him as the blond realized that the braided teen was not at his side but several yards ahead and growing with each step.

"Wufei!" Duo called out as he closed the distance between himself and the Chinese teen, said youth stopping instantly as he heard his name. Slowly, Wufei turned his head towards Duo, a look of disgust painted on his face.

"What do you want?" he spat.

"I heard that something came for me today," Duo stated, "and I also heard that you have it somewhere on your person."

"And who told you that?" Wufei sneered. "Whoever it is is lying. I would never get involved with anything that has your name on it, fag."

"I don't think that Mrs. Darlain would purposely make up stuff," Duo shrugged.

Wufei paled slightly. Crap, how was he going to get out of this one? Mrs. Darlain was a person of unquestionable integrity and it was frowned upon for someone to say that the kind woman would lie on purpose.

"I don't know what you are talking about," he snapped as he tried to get away from Duo's presence.

"Wufei," Duo growled.

Without warning, Wufei spun around and punched Duo in his gut particularly hard. Not expecting such an attack on his person, Duo clutched at his stomach in agony as he kneeled down onto the ground beneath him. He heard Wufei's footsteps rush away from him soon followed by Solo's as they came hear him.

"Duo!" Solo exclaimed.

"Stop Wufei!" Duo managed. "I'll be right behind you."

He could feel Solo's expression of doubt bore into him but the blond obeyed him nonetheless as he took off after the escaping Chinese teen. Gasping for as much air as he could in a short amount of time, Duo forced himself back onto his feet, his arms never leaving their protective hold on his abused gut. Doing the best he could, he made a poor attempt at a trot in a clearly vain move to catch up.

By the time he got to the street, Solo had come back up to him, empty-handed but concerned over his injury.

"Little asshole got away," the blond growled as he put an arm around Duo's shoulders gently and began to escort the braided one to their limo. "Probably going to his house," he continue to mutter, "Gonna kick his ass tomorrow when I get my hands on him."

Panting as he sat down in the limo's seating, Duo waved his hand at the blond in a dismissing gesture. "Forget about it for now," he managed. "Damn," he swore, "he really got me good this time."

"If ya think I'm gonna forget about this, you're mistaken," Solo growled even as he doted on him. "Nobody hurts my uke."

Duo paused at that and slowly raised his head to look straight up at the blond. "What did you say?" he questioned, the events that had happened only a couple of minutes ago gone from his mind as he focus solely on this single declaration.

"What?" Solo asked, confused.

"Did you say 'uke?'" Duo demanded. "What the hell does that mean?"

"I found it on the internet," Solo answered, puzzled as to why Duo was concerned about a single insignificant word when he should be concentrating on getting back at Wufei for that cheap shot back there. "Forgot where I saw it but there was this chat room I found and I had no idea what everybody was talking about but that word came up. Asked Hilde about it later and found out that she likes watching gay porn behind everybody's backs when they aren't looking."

"And what does this have to do with that word?" Duo hissed.

"Well, she started talking about dominants and submissives and…" Solo found that he was getting quite uncomfortable where this was all heading. "Look I don't want to talk about it anymore, okay? I still get creeped out that Hilde is some sort of gay guy fan/nut thing."

"How do you spell it?" Duo asked.

"Huh? Why?" Solo asked, bewildered.

"When we get back to the mansion, I'm going to look it up on the internet," Duo told him. "If you're not going to tell me what I want to know, then I'm going find out from a place where nothing is held sacred."

"Oh boy," Solo muttered to himself.

--

There, it was done.

Odin quickly began to distance himself from the Winner Mansion the moment he began to smell the methane rise from the ground. His job done, he quickly began to retreat off the estate lands and back to his car where he would wait for the explosion that would signal to him that his job was done.

He stopped only long enough to hide himself as a limo pulled up into the long driveway and watched as the two long haired teens from within left the vehicle, heading for the front door.

--

Wufei rushed into his room and slammed the door shut behind him, locking it so that he wouldn't be disturbed. He was hot, he was sweaty, but he was in the sanctity of his bedroom where he would be—

The screech of a cat howling in pain nearly gave him a heart attack. Jumping away, he noticed that one of his mother's cats was in his bedroom, glaring at him reproachfully for stepping on its tail. With a growl, he sent the cat out of his room and made sure there weren't any unwanted guests still in his room before shutting the door and locking it again.

Now he was alone, safe from being bother by anybody. Now was as good a time to look at that package that had come to his eternal nemesis. As he took out the small package from his backpack, he noticed a strange smell in the air but dismissed it immediately.

Behind him, where the fireplace in his bedroom was, one of the golden handles on the floor was turned, cat hair dangling from it, releasing a steady stream of flammable gas into the fireplace, prepping it for the fire that was meant to be set in it.

--

Grabbing his laptop out of his room, Duo stopped as an unfamiliar smell breached his nostrils. Sniffing the air, unable to determine what it was, he called out for Solo, said blond coming in a few moments later.

The blond stopped dead in his tracks the moment he entered the bedroom. It was obvious that he recognized the smell for whatever it was.

"I think we got a gas leak," the blond said as he placed his hands on Duo's shoulders and began to push him out of there. "Better call my dad or uncle and tell them about this."

"Are we in any trouble?" Duo asked.

"Only if someone lights up or there's a spark," Solo muttered to himself as he continued to push the braided one down the hallway, trying to get as far as he could from the leaking gas.

--

The brown wrapping paper had been peeled off as gently as it could be without being ripped. Just as he had begun to suspect, beneath that paper was a metal tin but the question remained: what was inside of it?

He huffed irritably as it seemed the strange smell in his room was taking over all the air. He made a mental note to himself to get his bedroom fumigated or whatever was needed to get rid of this annoying smell. But first, the package needed to be open and all that would take would be a couple minutes.

Reverently, he held the tin in one of his delicate hands and tightened the fingertips of his free hand on the tin's top. Applying pressure, he took the tin's top off and placed it to a side and looked into the tin eagerly.

What he found was something he did not expect.

There were wires all over it and two small bottles of different colored liquids that began to bubble ominously. Below there was what looked liked to be a dial that one would normally find on a small eggtimer, the small dial clicking happily away. (1)

In a moment of sudden clarity, Wufei realized two things. One was that he was holding some sort of bomb, something that only Hollywood could probably come up with. The other was that he recognized what the strange smell in the air was.

His head snapped over to the fireplace where he saw to his increasing horror that one of the handles near it was turned to the "on" position.

He only had time enough to look back at the primitive bomb in his hands before his whole world was suddenly engulfed in fire.

* * *

(1) For those of you who've seen or can recall "Con Air," this might seem really familiar.


	53. Coincidence? I Think Not!

Author's Note: Once again, the power that is Anonymous Void has struck down yet another pilot. Three down, two to go, but not in this fic (spoiler!). For those who are Wufei fans, this includes you too Tora-chan, my condolences on your loss. For the rest of you, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai, dark themes

Coincidence? I Think Not!

From his vantage point, Odin had a perfect view of the Winner Mansion and he frowned at it when nothing of significance happened to it.

He was positive, no, more than certain, that the bomb should have gone off by now. From his research, he was sure that the target wouldn't have recognized the scent that methane gas gave off. In fact, he was sure that no one outside of the hired help knew what it smelled like and he had timed the release of the gas so that no one would catch until it had spread quite a ways over the mansion.

When a half hour passed by and the only thing of worth that happened was a vehicle from the local gas company arrive, he began to feel as if something was wrong.

He needed to get out of here, and quick. Starting up his car, he accidentally turned the car radio on, something that he usually kept off since he deemed music a waste of time.

…_at the site of the Chang Estate grounds where earlier today an explosion tore out of the building. According to local authorities, no one was seriously injured but the Chang Family reports that Chang Wufei, son of Chang Huang and Chang Meifeng, is currently missing…_

Odin's blood froze in his veins. An explosion? At another mansion? But that was…it couldn't…! How could this be?!

Then he remembered delivering the bomb at the target's school and that there was a boy of Chinese origin there who received the bomb. Chang was a Chinese name, wasn't it? Could it be that…that…that some moronic _boy_ messed up a hit, forever putting a smudge on his perfect record?

If that boy (1) was still alive, he was going to finish the job if he wasn't dead already.

--

"Holy shit."

Removing his attention from the man that had been sent by the gas company, Raberba Winner turned his attention towards his younger brother. Ezekiel was staring avidly at a television set where an image of a familiar home was being broadcasted, a pillar of dark smoke rising from one of the upper stories.

"Isn't that the Chang residence?" he asked his brother aloud, the gas representative also becoming enthralled with the news report.

Ezekiel only nodded, not bothering to answer verbally.

Raberba had a right to be concerned; that estate was not too far from here. In fact, if he looked out of one of the east wing windows, he more than likely would have been able to see the very pillar of smoke that was beginning to turn into a whitish cloud as firefighters began to finish off the fire within the building.

"I was just there," he heard the man from the gas company whisper. "A couple of days ago," the man continued to whisper, "I was…I was…"

It was times like these that one began to recognize their own mortality. Turning to the man, Raberba said, "Do you need some privacy? To compose yourself?"

"Yes, yes, I think I will," the horrified man said.

Directing the shaken man to a guest room, Raberba watched as the man left the room and saw Duo at the door, pale as pale can be and with a worried Solomon at his side.

"Duo?" the eldest Winner asked aloud.

Slowly, a foot at a time, the braided teen crossed the threshold, his eyes darting to the television and back to the Winner elder. It wasn't much but Raberba got the idea.

"I take it you've heard about this," he stated, gesturing to the TV.

Duo nodded his head and whispered, "Just a few minutes ago."

A frown beginning to mar the man's face, he asked, "Is there something about it that bothers you?"

Duo swallowed audibly, even as he plopped himself down on a couch, his arms wrapping around his body as if trying to ward away some sort of chill. "My father…" he rasped.

Raberba's frown became more pronounced. "What has he to do with this?" he asked, gesturing to the TV.

Solomon placed himself next to the braided teen and gathered him into him arms, one of his hands petting the chestnut hair that the lad sported. From the corner of his eye, he could see how the display of affection was bothering Ezekiel. His brother was always squeamish around some displays, even if they came from his wife.

"The…other day," Duo managed to say.

"What about it?" he inquired.

"My father…he…he offered to recognize me…as his son…that is if I…I," Duo continued, swallowing, "…if I helped…helped him with his deal, make it go through. I said no and he…he said I would regret it."

"And how does this fit in…?" he asked, feeling a shadow of dread begin to gather in his gut.

"There was…" Duo began but it seemed as if the boy lost his nerve. However, it was Solomon who took up the mantle and continued with Duo's story. It seemed that the boy had an idea of what Duo was trying to say but what that was, Raberba had yet to grasp though he too had an idea of what it was.

"Something came in the mail for Duo at school," Solo explained, looking at Duo for confirmation that what he was saying was what the braided one would have said and received an affirmative. "It came in this morning but we didn't know anything about it until lunch when a lady from the office told us about it and that Wufei had it on him."

Wufei? That name…it rang a bell. But what did it mean?

"Who is Wufei? His full name," he asked.

"Wufei Chang or is it Chang Wufei?" Solo answered though he was having a bit of trouble trying to decide which it was.

But it was the name Chang that stopped Raberba cold. Chang Wufei. A fire at the Chang Estate. Could this be what Raberba was dreading it to be?

"It was a bomb," Duo blurted out, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. "He's tried that before, mailing me a bomb."

That was the final piece for him. Dmitri Tsubarov had made another attempt on his son's life only this time someone else got hurt instead of the person who was threatened. But all the evidence was circumstantial, nothing concrete. At least not yet but if only there was a way to gain some hard, undeniable proof, something that even Tsubarov would be hard pressed to deny.

"Ezekiel," he said suddenly, gaining his brother's attention. "I need to speak with you, privately."

Ezekiel stared at him for but a moment before nodding his head and standing up. Before leaving the room, he glanced back at the sight of his son with Duo, a look of yearning on his face but ultimately backed out, Raberba following after him to leave the two teens to their selves.

Leading his brother a ways from the teens, he stopped and brought his face within inches of his brother's and began to confer to him his wishes in a quiet tone of voice. "I want you to start searching for any suspicious activity concerning Dmitri Tsubarov including all communications he made be they emails or phone calls. Look at all monetary transactions in the past three days, if there are any. I'll find out everything I can about the bombing itself and pass along anything I find. Tomorrow evening, I want to know everything you found that can be considered important."

"But isn't Tsubarov coming in tomorrow afternoon?" Ezekiel asked.

"Not anymore," Raberba replied. "We have a gas leak, remember? I'll reschedule the meeting for another day. He'll have to accept it and it'll buy us a little more time."

The younger Winner nodded his agreement to the elder.

"Meanwhile," Raberba continued, "we'll go to the penthouse and stay there until the leak is fixed and the house aired out. No need staying in a building filled with methane, eh?"

"I'll inform the others," Ezekiel said.

Satisfied, Raberba did not turn around to return to the room that held the two teenagers but heading towards his office where he would need to make a few calls.

--

"I am sorry to hear that," Tsubarov said gruffly over the phone. "Perhaps we can meet up sometime tomorrow at your office and continue negotiations there?"

The man fell silent as he listened to the reply, a frown overtaking his face easily and exposing all the facial wrinkles that he had accumulated over his whole lifetime. It was obvious that he did not like the answer he had been told.

"Can't you just cancel something?" he asked.

A pause followed.

"Well, you can't blame me for trying," he stated. "So when is the next time you can meet with me? Yes, I can meet you then. Thank you for your time Mr. Winner."

Hanging up, Tsubarov wiped the sweat off of his brow as he turned his attention back to the television where currently the local news was reporting that the fire at the Chang Estate had been put out and firefighters were currently sifting through the burned part of the mansion, searching for anybody who may have been unlucky enough not to get out of the building in time.

He had a bad feeling about this, a really bad feeling. It wasn't as if he hadn't been exposed to something like this, something that one got used to when they were up in the higher rungs of the hierarchy at Romafellor. No, there was something about this that screamed to him that this was no accident, if it was even being considered one.

It didn't help that Odin had yet to contact him, informing him that his son had gone the way of the dodo. The boy should have been dead by now, now that he thought about it, especially since it was _Odin_ who he had hired to commit the deed. Had something gone wrong? No, no that was impossible. Nothing ever went wrong whenever Odin was on the case. He was just…biding his time, yeah that was it! The assassin hadn't found a means to kill the boy yet, of course.

That was the only explanation that Tsubarov could come up with.

But it was one that he would cling to and the only one that held any hope for him.

--

Solo gazed out of the penthouse's large windows, the lights of the city without providing quite the sight to the blond, even as he wrapped his arms around Duo protectively.

The sudden move from the mansion to the penthouse had been unexpected and Solo had suspected that the bombing at the Chang Estate had prompted the move. However, that was not the case since the excuse he had been told was about the presence of methane in the house and that there was an apparent gas leak. It was common sense, so he had been told, that it would be too dangerous to stay at the mansion until the leak had been fixed.

All that had come from the mouth of his father, Ezekiel, and he usually would have found some second meaning in-between the lines but not today it seemed. He was still so unused to that new side of his father that he had been exposed to only recently, the one where the man had a backbone.

It seemed he was just going to have to sit back and let the adults in this situation handle things this time around. That was one thing he didn't like to do, that is not be in control of a situation and let others handle it. He just didn't like being in that position of helplessness, that was all. He wanted to be able to do something, anything, be productive, constructive, whatever, and not just have some assholes control his fate.

However, the small figure of Duo that was currently snuggled up against him was more than enough to convince him to stay where he currently was. Who was he to deny himself the pleasure of having his significant other exactly where he was gazing into a sight that few took the time to admire anymore.

"Pretty, ain't it?" he spoke aloud to the braided one, referring to the sight of the city at night.

"Uh huh," Duo mumbled.

Telling by how heavy Duo's voice was and also the fact that the little guy's breathing was getting deeper by the minute, Solo gave an educated guess that Duo was close to sleep.

Then again, why wouldn't he want to go to sleep? This day, while it had started out all right, had turned into a right nightmare, what with the death of a classmate even though it was a person that neither of them liked. It was just another reminder of the mortality that everyone possessed, including them.

Duo was so convinced that it had been a bomb that had killed Wufei the moment it was reported a body, or the remains of one, had been found and everyone but the Chinese teen had been accounted for. Solo had wanted to argue the point that it could have been a spark combined with a gas leak that caused the explosion. There was a leak currently being dealt at the house; was it so farfetched that the same thing could have happened elsewhere? Plus everything else was just circumstantial, even if his father and uncle were kinda taking it a little bit seriously.

But Duo was adamant and wouldn't budge from his view. He just had to be stubborn about this, didn't he? Still, it was something he liked about him and wouldn't change it for the world.

"Night, Short Stuff," he whispered to the braided one, using the little nickname that he was so fond of.

"Dun call me that, Tree Trunk," Duo mumbled as he snuggled back further against him.

As Duo's breathing evened out, Solo chuckled and said, "I'll call you whatever I want to, Short Stuff."

* * *

(1) This is in reference to Wufei, not Duo.


	54. The Mettle of Ezekiel Winner

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

The Mettle of Ezekiel Winner

Despite yesterday's tragedy, school continued on as it always did.

There was a mentioning of Wufei's "accident" as it was being called in the morning announcements, followed by an assembly in the gym where the principal himself led a memorial service in honor of the deceased before finishing by announcing that today would only be a half-day.

That was perhaps that only thing good that came out of this and even that wasn't much.

"You know," Duo finally spoke during the last period for the day (lunch), "I never thought I'd find myself saying this but I kinda miss him."

"Wufei?" Quatre asked aloud. Duo only nodded his head in confirmation but said nothing else.

Solo frowned. "But didn't that ass…guy hate your guts to the point that he tried to isolate you from the rest of the school?"

"It's one thing if it was at graduation and it would be the last day I would have to look at him," Duo answered solemnly. "It's a whole other thing when he was blown to pieces by a bomb meant for you."

"Nobody knows if a bomb was even involved," Solo stated exasperatedly.

"You think father dearest is looking to get caught?" Duo retorted. "You don't know him like I do, nor do you know anything about the company he works for. They've killed so many people but no charges were ever brought up and no suspects even pinned. Plus, they usually hire hired killers to do their dirty work so they don't have to."

"You seem to know a lot about this," Trowa pointed out. "Is it because your father tried to do something like this before?"

"I thought I already told you that. He's tried many times. It's always circumstantial, you know? You have to put together the facts first before anything else."

"So, you're saying that you would know what a bomb looked like if it was mailed to you?" Solo asked pointedly.

"Yeah, I would," Duo said.

"Even if it was all wrapped up in brown paper and had a stamp on it?"

"You bet your ass I would."

"Now you're just over exaggerating yourself," Solo quipped with a small grin.

"I could so," Duo pouted.

"Could? So it's not can?" Trowa picked up, catching Solo's wink and returning his own.

"Whose side are you on?" Duo questioned, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the unibanged teen.

"Only the winning one," Trowa shrugged.

"Now that's not right," Quatre protested. "You should at least let him think he could."

"I hate all of you," Duo grunted and let his head fall to the table, his face impacting the smooth surface.

--

Raberba picked up his phone the moment the shrill ringing screamed from it. "Who's speaking?" he greeted as his eyes darted from left to right as he read just another piece of paper that was part of a much larger stack of papers, all of them having some sort of impact on WEI.

"_I found something out_," came the voice of his younger brother. Ezekiel hadn't been in the office all day, instead focusing all his energies on finding out if Romafellor had had anything to do with the explosion at the Chang Estate.

Dropping everything, Raberba focused all of his undivided attention on this one single phone call. "What did you find?" he demanded.

"_One of my contacts found something, at least something a bit suspicious_," Ezekiel told him. "_I don't have all the information yet but it seems like a solid lead thus far. I'm going to go check it out myself and see what I can get out of it._"

"And what exactly are you investigating," Raberba asked, frowning.

"_A…close friend hacked into a database of one of the banks in town, found some sort of transaction that occurred between one Tsubarov to a private account, one that he does not own but someone else does. I have an address and since I was close by, I was going to go check it out._"

"I hope you thought this one through, Ezekiel," Raberba said dryly. "I don't want you to get hurt over this."

"_I'll be careful. Tell you what, if I don't call you in thirty minutes, contact the police and send them to 5112 Morrison Boulevard, apartment 9._"

Raberba's frown increased. That address sounded familiar, something that he had heard in the past couple weeks or so. He just couldn't put his finger on it. Nevertheless, he pushed it out of his mind. "Alright, just don't get in over your head. I'm starting your time…now."

"_I'll talk to you in thirty or less_."

With that, Raberba's brother hung up, the dial tone blaring into his ear.

--

Ezekiel took a deep breath as he got out of his car. He looked around, observing the apartment complex in front of him. The doors to each apartment were external, each one with some sort of decoration except for one which had the signs of a new tenant moving in. His mind latched on to the trivial fact that it was on the second story of the building, seven doors down from the paint-peeling stairs.

If he had known that the building he was looking at was the very same apartment complex that Duo had stayed in just before moving into his brother's, he would have smirked at the irony of it.

However, it was on the ground floor that he was focused on as the apartment he was searching for was located there. Even though the owner of this particular apartment had an object hanging from his door, Ezekiel noticed that it was gaudy, something that one would find at a hobby store. It spoke volumes to the man, telling of a little bit of the individual within. The person in there only bought the decoration to blend in with his surroundings and not stick out like the one door on the second story.

It was in moments like these, Ezekiel mused, that he regretted not following his childhood dream and becoming a detective or private eye. Instead, he ended up working as head of the electronics branch of WEI, a position generously given to him by his older brother. As a child, he had always been fascinated with and loved reading about true crime stories and watching police shows on the television. Sherlock Holmes had been his hero and he had always wanted to grow up to be just like him.

But that was neither here nor there. From what he knew, or had been told from his hacker friends that he still kept in touch with, the man on the other side of this door was incredibly dangerous. He could only hope that if worse came to worse, he would still be alive by the time help arrived. If not, then hopefully his death would be quick and painless.

He knocked heavily on the door and stood back, waiting for the occupant to come to the door and greet him. Well, this was it, the moment of truth. There was no going back now. Had he updated his will lately? Hopefully he had; he didn't want Solomon to not get what was rightfully his…

The door in front of him opened up, without even the hinges squeaking, abruptly and Ezekiel was jerked out of his inner musings as he came face to face with an expression so neutral that he was jealous of the man who possessed it.

"Who are you and what do you want?" the man before him demanded. The man's tone was incredibly bland and there were no emotions in it to give Ezekiel a clue as to how to respond. However, what he did know was who this man was and he knew that this man also knew who he was as well.

"Odin!" he greeted goodheartedly. "Long time no see!"

Odin blinked owlishly at him, confusion making its presence known. "Do I know you?" he asked.

"Don't you remember?" Ezekiel chirped. "High school? We graduated in the same class?"

Odin just stared at him blankly.

"It's me!" Ezekiel exclaimed. "Ezekiel!"

"Ezekiel?" Odin repeated.

"Winner," he added on and became pleased as a look of recognition dawned on Odin's face. That expression soon soured into that blank look again.

"What do you want?" Odin asked, repeating himself from earlier.

"May I come in?" Ezekiel asked instead, not bothering to wait for Odin's answer and shoving his way in. He took in the Spartan quarters, noticing the lack of anything other than the essential furniture and technology that a person needed in this day and age.

"What do you want?" he heard Odin nearly snarl from behind him.

Looking back at the man and giving him a hurt expression, he asked, "Do I really need a reason to visit a friend from high school?"

Odin's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I don't recall us ever socializing before," the man deadpanned. "Now that's you've visited, leave. Now."

"Not so fast," Ezekiel said. "I have something to discuss with you first."

Odin's fingers twitched spasmodically, as if he was restraining himself from attacking the other. As his mouth opened to retort, Ezekiel interrupted him.

"It has to do with the incident at the Chang Estate and an individual named Dmitri Tsubarov."

Odin's mouth shut with an audible click. Ezekiel managed to keep himself from grinning in success but he couldn't stop himself from thinking _Bingo_. He had caught that flash of indignation at the mention of the Chang Estate but the flash of alarm that followed it the moment he said Tsubarov's name was all he needed to know that Odin knew something. Like the businessman that he was, he pounced the moment Odin tried to deny it.

"I don't know what you're—"

"Cut the crap, Odin," he cut in. "I know you're involved and let me tell you, my brother knows it too. So why don't you come clean and tell me all that you know?"

Crossing his arms defensively over his chest, Odin growled, "Why should I?" A sneer grew on his face as the killer continued, "I could just kill you right now and not have to worry about you anymore. It's a client confidentiality thing."

Ezekiel had expected this. He was only wondering why it had taken so long to get to this point. Either Odin was foolish, which he doubted, or he was trying not to do anything for fear that he could loose his lucrative business practice. Odin was no idiot, not in high school and certainly not now, especially since he was now a cold-blooded killer.

"How much is Tsubarov paying you?" he demanded as Odin slowly began to back him further into his apartment, stalking him like a feline predator. "I'll pay you quadruple what he's paying you for your cooperation and information."

At that, Odin paused. If there was one thing that could make a man like this hesitate, it was money, pure and simple. Fortunately for Ezekiel, he had a lot of money to use.

"Trust me, I'm good for it," Ezekiel told him, letting out a smirk. "No matter how much it is, I can pay you whatever price it is."

He could see the internal struggle through Odin's eyes and from the looks of it, the man greed was winning out.

It was only a matter of time until…

--

Odin sighed as he reentered his apartment, locking the door behind him.

It had been a tough decision, the kind that he hadn't struggle with before in a long time, not since his gawky teenage years to be precise.

Now, you're probably wondering which one he chose: kill Ezekiel Winner or take the money. It was actually simpler than one might think. It was one of those times where he was grateful for his pragmatic side.

He took the money.

Yeah, he ratted out his client in exchange for a hefty sum, one in which he had demanded full payment first before he squealed. Ezekiel had responded by calling the bank and ordering that his sum be ready for pick up the moment he got there. And now, all that cash was in a briefcase that was currently sitting innocently on his dining table.

But he got more out of this than he had thought he would. It was from Ezekiel that he learned that he hadn't taken into account external third parties that could have interfered in his work. Lack of information had been the reason why his bomb ended up detonating at an entirely different location than where it should have gone off. Damn that Tsubarov, not giving him anymore details than his target's name and where he went to school…

He paused as he heard his cell phone go off in his pocket. It was a hesitation that only lasted a second but he was able to go back into full professional mode and pick up after the second ring.

"Lowe speaking," he stated.

A client was a client, after all. Who was he to deny his services to those he knew could afford him?


	55. Confrontation for the Ages

Author's Note: If you haven't picked it up from the title of this chapter, then allow me to tell you that shit goes down today. This is the second longest chapter of this fic, the first being chapter 52, so it should give you all the suspense and excitement, yadda, yadda, yadda, that you're all addicted to. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai, violence, death

Confrontation for the Ages

"Are you ready for this?" was the question directed at Raberba, the asker of the question being none other than his brother Ezekiel. "This is a big thing you are about to do," the man said, a bit of his timidness that only showed up when Solomon was nearby squeaking its way into his voice.

The elder Winner smiled fondly at his brother. "You needn't worry about me," he answered. "What you did yesterday was probably more dangerous than what I'm about to do."

"But we don't know how Tsubarov is going to react once you break the news to him," Ezekiel protested. "Also, the boys will be getting out of school soon. What if Tsubarov catches sight of Dwaine and tries to do something desperate?"

"He already tried to do that when he hired Lowe to kill him," Raberba stated coolly. "Now that we have Lowe's confession, along with his agreement to testify in case Romafellor objects to this, there's nothing that Tsubarov can do to change my mind. Anyway, he's going to be at the mercy of Mr. Romafellor once this meeting is over, that is once you've faxed over my decision to Romafellor that is."

"As soon as Tsubarov arrives," Ezekiel agreed, though still unsure.

"Good," Raberba replied. "You know where to send him in once he arrives."

"Yeah, yeah," Ezekiel mumbled, sounding more like one of the boys than the adult that he was. Raberba only smiled at his brother's back in amusement as the younger Winner left to keep watch for Tsubarov's arrival.

He sat back in his chair and sighed. All he could do now was wait. Most peoples' hearts would have been beating faster in anxiety but not his. He was used to doing such things, after all, he was the head of WEI, one of the largest corporate firms in the world. He was used to crushing peoples' hopes and dreams, though he didn't like it, and one had to get used to it when one was in his position.

As for what was coming up, he was grateful for the fact that the mansion was no longer in threat of being blown up the second someone lit a match and that the methane had been aired out. Just the feeling of being on familiar turf was enough to make him feel secure. Tonight, he reflected, he would be able to sleep in his own bed again, hopefully.

Whether it had been an hour or a few minutes, he did not know but it did not matter the moment the door handle turned and the door opened to reveal none other than Tsubarov on the other side. Ezekiel wasn't with him, or at least anywhere in sight, so Raberba assumed that he was in the process of sending the fax to Romafellor. He didn't need to tell Tsubarov to close the door behind him as the large man had done it himself and was seating himself in a chair opposite to him.

"It's good to see you again," Tsubarov greeted with his gruff voice. "Shall we get pick up where we last left off?"

"About that," Raberba cut in, smiling inwardly as he caught sight of Tsubarov's small eyes twitching and quivering within their eye sockets. The man didn't seem to be able to mask his emotions very well, did he? It's a wonder how he gotten as far as he had. "I'm afraid something has…come up that has made me begin to reconsider this proposal that your company is offering."

He could see the tiny beads on sweat beginning to dot on Tsubarov's forehead. "I don't understand what you're saying," Tsubarov said.

"What I'm saying is that I know about your role in the murder of the Chang heir," Raberba stated coldly. "I know that it was an accident and that your real target was not that boy but another."

"How dare you—" Tsubarov began to say in indignation, only to be interrupted by Raberba as the man plowed ahead.

"I know everything, Tsubarov. I've heard it from the very man you hired to assassinate your own son, a Mr. Odin Lowe to be precise."

At the mention of Lowe's name, Tsubarov's mouth fell open in shock. Raberba could see the terror in the man's eyes, and all it did was to confirm to him what he already knew. Tsubarov seemed to realize his blunder and he began to attempt to salvage whatever he could, his mouth opening and closing spasmodically as he tried to speak.

"You know, I was told by your superior, Dermail, that you were one of the finest that Romafellor had to offer," he said conversationally. "Well, if you're the best, then I'd hate to see what the worst would be."

"Winner…you can't be serious?" Tsubarov managed to croak out. "You…you wouldn't dare pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity! You'd have to be…be insane!"

"Save it Tsubarov," Raberba said. "I am not about to enter a partnership with a company filled with as many immoral cretins and risk WEI's reputation abroad; I'd have to be, in your words, 'insane' to do such a thing."

"As if you're any better," Tsubarov sneered.

Raberba slammed his hands on his desk and rose up from his seat, glaring malevolently down at the man before him. "At least I don't callously go around trying to kill a child just because I don't want to take responsibility for my own actions. I am probably better than most if not all of the employees that work for Romafellor."

"You're soft," Tsubarov sneered.

"And you're in my home, now get out," Raberba snapped. "You can tell Mr. Romafellor that I am pulling out, that is if he hasn't gotten the fax already."

Tsubarov paled. "You…you didn't…?"

"I did," Raberba smirked at him.

This time it was Tsubarov who rose malevolently from his seat and Raberba had to admire that the man did have the imposing bit down. "Recant," Tsubarov hissed at him. "Do it; call Mr. Romafellor up now. Do it now or I'll…I'll…"

"You'll do what, per se?" he inquired challengingly.

Slowly, a sneer formed on Tsubarov's face, putting Raberba on his guard. "Do you love your son, Mr. Winner?"

It didn't matter that his desk was between himself and the man. It didn't matter that the man was bigger, larger, and possibly stronger than him. None of that mattered as he decked this pitiful excuse for a parasite, causing the man to stumbled back and fall onto the floor.

"Get out." There was nothing in his voice that suggested that he could be persuaded to change his mind. The dark look that had taken residence on Raberba's face was unlike anything that he had ever donned before. It was more than enough to freeze Tsubarov where he lay, still recovering from the blow he had received only seconds ago. "Get out of my home and never return here," he growled. "If you think you can threaten me and my family, you are _dead_ wrong. I know people too, people who would do things for me for free, the same kind of things you would pay for. You think Lowe is the best in town? There are more efficient killers around here who aren't as expensive and they like me better than you or the firm you represent. Don't think for a second that I won't use them should you do _anything_ to me or to my family. Now _get out_."

In record time, Tsubarov managed to scramble out of his office, Raberba tracking the man's every step until he was out of sight.

--

Tsubarov fled through the hallways, fleeing for the front door and escape. He had truly underestimated Winner. He had thought him to be too moral to not go as far as he said he would back there but listening to that uncharacteristic voice, any doubts he might've had were nonexistent.

In his mad dash, he tripped over his feet and went plummeting to the carpeted floor, laying still for but a moment as he sought to gain just a little bit of extra energy. The moment he got to his knees and lifted his head up, he found that his way was being blocked by two newcomers.

He stared at the two long haired teens before him, one registering in his mind as being one of the Winner spawn while the other was none other than the little runt himself, the bane of his existence since his conception.

That was when his vision turned red as his mind latched on to the thought pattern that that braided menace was responsible for this, for his downfall. But he wasn't going to go down, not yet, not alone.

With that, he launched himself at his son.

--

Running into his father back at the Winners' had been the last thing Duo had expected out of this day. Running into his father as the man looked like he was running for his life as if trying to escape the jowls of Hell itself was also something that he hadn't expected to see in his lifetime.

As the man caught sight of him, Duo froze like a deer in the headlights. Slowly, his father's frightened visage contorted into a mask of fury, the likes of which he had never seen from the man before. The facial expression stunned him into inactivity long enough so that when the man began to charge him, he was defenseless and unable to get out of the way in time before those meaty hands grasped hold of his neck.

Survival instincts kicking in, he immediately grabbed a hold of Tsubarov's arms to give himself some leverage as he continued to go backwards due to the man's momentum. He felt himself run into Solo but the normally insurmountable blond was stumbling back as well from the force that had run into him. But it wasn't over yet as his feet left the floor and he was slammed into the wall, the air in his lungs forced out of him from the impact.

"I'll see you six feet under yet boy!" Tsubarov snarled in his face, saliva flying from his mouth and onto Duo's face as the large hands proceeded in strangling him.

"Let him go!" he heard Solo cry as the blond ran to his defense but Tsubarov only freed one of his hands so that he could viciously backhand the blond, Solo's head snapping to a side as he was conquered from that one blow alone.

"So—" Duo managed to choke out in despair as he saw his friend sprawled out on his back, green eyes blinking dazedly, dispatched easily from Tsubarov's single blow.

"DUO!" he heard a tenor voice cry out, followed by rapidly approaching footsteps that his mind identified as belonging to Quatre.

Tsubarov didn't even take his eyes off the braided one as his free hand caught Quatre by the front of his neck. Using the strength that his powerful frame gave him, Tsubarov literally threw Quatre away, the blond flying through the air only to slam into Trowa who had just come on to the scene. The unibanged teen barely managed to catch the smaller blond but the force in which Quatre impacted him was enough to send him toppling backwards.

"If it wasn't for you," Tsubarov snarled in his face, "if it wasn't for…for that bitch who made you, I wouldn't have lost everything! Because of you…" With all the anger that the man could muster, he punched his fist into Duo's gut.

The blow, if anything, jumpstarted the braided teen's resistance, putting it into high gear. Duo's violet eyes flashed widely now with the suppressed rage and resentment that had been building up in him towards this man for years. Unable to keep it bottled in anymore, Duo put it all into his leg as he brought it up straight into Tsubarov's body, hitting the man straight where the sun didn't shine.

Tsubarov's eyes widened comically from the sharp pain emanating from his groin but hadn't released Duo from his choking hold yet. This sat just fine with the braided one as he kicked his leg back up into Tsubarov's groin once more and then again. With each kick, Tsubarov's arm jerked and lowered Duo closer to the floor and the moment the braided one felt his feet back on the carpet, he proceeded to pry his father's hand off his neck and shove him off him.

Taking a step away from the wall behind him, Duo spun his body in an all too familiar way, balancing on only one of his legs while the other snaked out through the air, seeking Tsubarov's face. Bowed down as he was and clutching at his injured manhood, Tsubarov's impressive height wouldn't be able to save him as Duo's roundhouse kick caught him square on his forehead.

Duo was mildly disappointed at that; he had wanted to get his father in the middle of his butt ugly face, where his nose was. But seeing the impression of his shoe on that clear expanse of skin was able to placate him just a bit.

With a hand clutching his groin protectively and the other hand covering his forehead, Tsubarov glared at the braided one from his one visible eye, seething at Duo's audacity to actually strike him. Duo, meanwhile, had a hand tenderly protecting his reddened throat, the other appendage fisted tightly and he held his balance on that one leg, his other limb poised and ready to strike out again. The two blood relatives held their ground, glaring at each other in invisible combat.

"What in Hell is going on here?!" a thunderous voice suddenly boomed.

Startled, both combatants broke off their glares, each one looking towards the source of the voice only to find Raberba Winner there in all his imposing glory. His eyes widening in fear, Tsubarov scrambled to his feet and forced his way down the hallway, his heavy footsteps barely missing those still prone on the floor.

The moment his father was out of sight, Duo's tense body relaxed and he nearly collapsed as he let himself descend to the floor. With the immediate threat gone, he had no reason to be ready to fight. Of course, he did tense up a bit when he felt an arm wrap around him and pull him back into a source of molten heat but it was a welcome thing as he recognized the feel of Solo's body pressing up against his back. Without looking up, he felt Mr. Winner pass by him, heading towards Quatre to see if he was all right. Hey, blood before association always took precedence.

"You took your sweet time," Duo mumbled as he fully allowed himself to go limp. "Look after me, my ass…"

"Woulda come sooner but your old man sure can hit hard," Solo mumbled back, he face pressed into his chestnut hair. "They weren't kidding when they said I was out of my league."

"Yeah," Duo agreed, "and _I_ had to be the one to kick his ass. Now what do you think about me practicing?"

"You ain't gonna let this one go, are ya?"

"Damn straight," Duo confirmed, a slight smile on his face.

--

Tsubarov couldn't have gotten out of there any faster as he stumbled to his limo, giving his driver no time to get out and open the door for him like he usually did. For once, he did it himself and threw himself into the automobile, all the while shouting "Drive!"

His moron of a driver actually obeyed him for once and was already peeling out of the driveway as if he couldn't get out of there any faster. Tsubarov growled to himself as the full effects of his son's blows finally caught up with him. Without any adrenaline giving him the extra boost in strength, he could _feel_ the pain throbbing from his nether regions. He could swear it, that brat made it to where he couldn't have any children from now on. He'd have to get that checked out first, as soon as he got home—

His eyes snapped open, widening to their fullest extent. Shit, he couldn't go home! Mr. Romafellor knew about Winner's withdrawal; that man was going to be after his blood for this, if not his life. He needed to get out of there, disappear off the face of the earth.

But he couldn't just leave all the things that he had spent his whole life trying to get a hold of. No, he would stop off at his home first, pack a few things, then get the hell out of Dodge.

"Driver! Take me home!" he ordered, with no little pride as his voice wasn't high pitched as another male would be if they had gotten hit in the balls repeatedly.

However, as soon as he said that, he felt the limo come to a stop, quite roughly he might add. Sitting up straighter, he glanced out of the tinted windows but did not see his lavish home but wilderness and trees all about.

What was going…?

Suddenly, the door next to him opened and the next thing he knew, a gun barrel was pressing up against his chin. The eyes clouded with fear and snapped around wildly before settling on his would-be assailant.

A blank look was the only thing that stared back at him as the trigger was pulled, the bullet ripping through his head and into his brain.

--

The driver put the gun into the dead man's limp hand after checking for a pulse, becoming satisfied when he found none and ignoring the mess of blood that not only was splattered all over the inside of the limo but on him as well. His hands were covered with black gloves and he was careful in using them to shut the car door, fulfilling the effect that his latest victim had committed suicide.

Taking careful steps so as not to leave any, if at all, footprints behind, the driver took off his gloves and shoved them into a pocket, pulling out a cell phone simultaneously.

Heading to a parked car a whiles away, Odin Lowe allowed himself a smirk at a job well done, awaiting an answer from his latest client as he heard the continuous ringing noise from his phone.

--

"You have done an utmost splendid job. Yes, yes, the rest of your money has been deposited into the account. A pleasure doing business with you again, Mr. Lowe."

Dermail stood stiffly before the relaxed form of his superior, Mr. Romafellor, as the ruthless businessman received confirmation that Dmitri Tsubarov was dead. It was almost fascinating in a morbid kind of way how calmly and buoyant Mr. Romafellor was acting as he discussed killing a man over the phone.

Hanging up the appliance once his business was concluded, Mr. Romafellor leaned back in his chair, his blue eyes studying Dermail as if he were some sort of insect that he was about to either dissect or put into an insect collection. Dermail could feel himself sweating bullets, all but confident that Mr. Romafellor was going to have him killed next.

"How long have we known each other, Durban?" Mr. Romafellor finally spoke, the tone of his voice light, reminiscent, yet keeping that soft tone of his together.

"Decades," Dermail answered, swallowing.

Mr. Romafellor said nothing as he allowed the silence to thicken between himself and Dermail. Finally, he spoke, "We have known each other for quite sometime," agreeing with Dermail's answer. "In fact, I think we go all the way back to the founding of the Romafellor Corporation. You and I both have seen many things, watched as the company has grown and shrunk through the years. Many deals and proposals have gone our way and many others have not."

All of this was true and Dermail was beginning to wonder where this was all going.

"That is why," Mr. Romafellor paused, taking the time to look him straight in the eye before continuing, "other than docking your pay by half, I am not going to have you dispatched over this marvelous failure. That, and only that, is what's saving you this time. Next time, though, I may not be as lenient as I am now, history or no. Do you understand me?"

Dermail nodded, hoping that he didn't appear too eager. So what if he would not be paid as much as before? As least he still had his life! The same could not be said for Tsubarov.

"On another note," Mr. Romafellor continued, "Tsubarov's son might try and contest his father's estate. As much as it…irks me, we'll let him have it. No need to have anymore bad publicity over this and it might help us get more…clients in. It's not as if we really need that wretched man's money anyway."

With a wave of his hand, Mr. Romafellor dismissed him and Dermail took the release gratefully, turning to leave his superior's office.

"Oh, and one more thing Durban."

Dermail froze, his hand just inches away from the doorknob. Slowly, he turned to face Mr. Romafellor again.

"I know that you hand picked Tsubarov when he was hired," Mr. Romafellor stated. "I definitely know that you also hand picked him to oversee the proposal. Next time you do something like this, not only will I cut them off, I will cut _you_ off. Now get out of my sight."

Dismissal issued, Dermail took it and fled from Mr. Romafellor's office.


	56. When You Think You Know Someone

Author's Note: Things are beginning to wind down now, aren't they? Well, (spoiler alert!) this is the second to last chapter of this fic. One more to go and we're through. So, while you all still can, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing

Warning: language, shounen ai

When You Think You Know Someone

Another day had come and gone, and Duo now found himself sitting on Solo's bed, sighing as he reread the same letter for the third time, still trying to make sense of it.

It didn't help matters that the school held another assembly today in memory of Wufei, mourning the Chinese's unexpected yet tragic death. Not only that, there was also a guest speaker there, someone who had "experience" in going through such a thing and requesting that if they had any problems, they should either call or go to this advocacy center, if not their local school counselor. Through all of it, Duo found himself squirming in his seat, as if he had been the person who had killed his archenemy. He couldn't help but feel somewhat responsible for this all.

But that wasn't all, no sirree! Earlier today, his father's corpse had been discovered and deemed a suicide. This little tidbit of information had come from Howard who had not only informed him of it but also told him to expect to go to court sometime in the near future. Duo, however, wasn't really fooled; he knew that his father hadn't killed himself. The asshole valued his life too much to do something like that. No, he had been murdered by his company, of that he was positive.

Now here he was with this letter that requested his presence in a hearing that was to decide what to do with the Tsubarov estate, whether he was to get it, Romafellor, or even the government which was already licking its chops in anticipation. Knowing Howard, the guy was going to fight tooth and nail to at least secure him some sort of share of the estate, no matter how small it ended up.

Needless to say, he was not looking forward to this.

"What's this?" an all too familiar voice asked and Duo was not particularly resisting as the letter in his hands was gently pulled out. By now, he knew he was used to his significant other dominating practically everything and he knew that he probably should have done something to give the guy a challenge but he just wasn't in a perky mood today. Besides, Solo could be perky enough for the both of them when he put his mind to it.

He felt the bed dip right next to him as Solo settled his weight and wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer to his body, all the while not taking his eyes off the piece of paper that Duo once held in his hands.

"Is this a subpoena or something?" Solo asked after a few minutes, removing his eyes from the paper to look down at him quizzically.

"You're damn right it is," Duo sighed, confirming Solo's suspicion. "Howard wants me to come in and help build his case as to why I should get everything that belongs, or used to belong, to my father. Says that it belongs to me since I am his only child and all that other shit."

"Government trying to take it all, huh?" Solo guessed, nodding to himself.

"Not just them," he clarified. "Romafellor is also making a case for it. It's a three way fight in which nobody's going to win. Anyway, I don't want any of it. It's blood money anyway."

"You don't?" Solo asked, blinking stupefied. "But don't you want any? You have a right to it, you know."

"You think I want anything that belonged to my father?" Duo asked.

"Point taken," Solo acknowledged.

"At least you understand that much," Duo sighed. "Howard sure as hell didn't"

"What?" Solo blinked owlishly.

"Howard can be a great guy, you know?" Duo said. "But he can also be a greedy son of a bitch. When it wasn't my father taking me to court to cut down the money he had to pay me, it was Howard taking him to court to get more money out of him. You think Howard is doing everything for free? No, he hasn't done _pro bono_ with me since I first moved to an apartment, although he charges me a small fraction of what he usually charges clients."

"Just when you thought you knew a guy," Solo muttered to himself. "You sure know a lot of fucked up people, you know that?"

Duo chuckled at that pronouncement. "Well, you know what they say: birds of a feather flock together. My mother was, in my father's words, an opportunist; Howard's also one as well. As long as I was living with him, he used to take money out of my child support. That gravy train stopped when I moved out."

"No wonder he was all up in my face when I first met him," Solo said. "He thought I was going to steal you away from him, didn't he?"

"Maybe, don't really know. Let's just say that he wasn't fond of Quatre when I first mentioned him to him," Duo shrugged.

Wow, you learned something new everyday. There was somebody who actually didn't like his cousin? Duo had to restrain a laugh upon seeing Solo's stunned look.

"Wait," the blond suddenly said. "He was all for letting us take you in when we first mentioned it."

"Do you think he has the balls to challenge your family?" Duo countered.

"He's willing to take on Romafellor," Solo replied, pointing out the obvious.

"Maybe it's because people like your family more than they do your rivals," Duo said dryly. "People could care less if someone sues RC but God help the guy who spits on a WEI building. It's a huge bias out there and you should know by now that your uncle takes full advantage of it."

"Huh." Solo made no other reply as a frown marred his face but other than that, nothing.

"It's kinda sad, don't'cha think?" Duo commented wistfully. "I know more about your family business than you do and I'm not part of the family!"

"Is that so?" a slow smirk grew on the blond's face. "Maybe I should hire you as my secretary once I take over _my_ father's position. Then we can have one of those office meetings where we get all freaky on my desk…"

"You're not making this easy, you know, liking you," Duo sighed, not bothering to jump down the blond's throat this time around.

Solo only tightened his embrace, squeezing him gently like he was a teddy bear.

--

Several days later, Duo found himself in a suit, the same one that he had worn to the Homecoming Dance he noted wryly, and in a court of law, sitting in one of the spectator's seats right behind Howard's table, a banister being the only thing that separated him from the old man.

It was one of those rare occasions, more common than thought mind you, where Howard was not wearing his sunglasses nor his God-awful Hawaiian shirt. The old man was dressed professionally for the job he had and he was determined to come out of this with something to show for it. Every once in a while, Howard would cast him a look, as if warning him not to do anything. Duo would always wince at that, remembering how Howard had reacted when he had tried to get out of the inheritance hearing.

Glancing around at the rest of those who bothered to come in, he saw a few faces he recognized, namely a few Romafellor execs that he hadn't seen since the court first ordered his father to pay him his child support. There was a friendly face amongst the gathered, Solo to be precise. How the blond had managed to get his father and uncle to allow him to come here, Duo did not know but he had a feeling that it involved a lot of begging.

A _lot_ of begging…

Then there were the countless lawyers that Romafellor and the government were employing for this matter. There were boxes of papers galore and millions of dollars being spent by the minute as they all were looking through their stuff to define their cases and shred all others.

It was almost like a meat grinder. Almost.

And things were about to get worse as a new person entered the courtroom, their presence engulfing all others and forcing them to look upon them. Duo was not immune to this and the person he saw was an old man dressed prim and proper. From the sudden whisperings from among the Romafellor execs, they knew who this person was.

"Seems like ol' Romafellor is taking an interest in this," he heard Howard comment dryly from behind.

Duo did not glance back at Howard but kept his eyes firmly attached to the man who radiated authority in a way that he had only seen Mr. Winner do. Unlike Mr. Winner who seemed to invite you in and talk with him like he was any Joe Schmoe, this particular man instead seemed to command and demand your respect. Then those cold, hard, blue eyes snapped over to him and Duo found he couldn't look away as those eyes bored into him, tearing him apart from the inside out and putting him back together.

Finally, Howard's words made sense. His lawyer hadn't been talking about Romafellor the corporation but Romafellor the man. A violent tremble wracked his body and he turned around in his seat to look away from the terrifying man.

"All rise," boomed the voice of the bailiff. "The honorable Judge Warren K. Peacecraft presiding over…."

--

Duo had one fucked up life.

If he had said it once, Solo knew he was going to say it again. As soon as the opening arguments had begun, the government claiming that Tsubarov didn't make out a will before he died so his fortune should be left to them. Howard's argument was similar except that he was saying that since Duo was Tsubarov's biological son, DNA tests proving it beyond a shadow of a doubt, the estate belonged to him. Romafellor hadn't made theirs yet but from the way that their lawyers were speaking with the head honcho, Solo knew that something was up.

However, this was a world that he was not used to. He was more used to being involved with stuff that was more straightforward than anything. There were no politics, no power plays, none of that stuff. But now, he had, willingly, been plunged into this world the moment he had determined to remain at Duo's side through thick and thin, never expecting what he was getting himself into.

After everything, all that had happened from meeting Duo's father, narrowly evading death itself, and having to be an anchor in a tumultuous sea of chaotic emotions, it was all culminating right here, right now. Sure, he may have been out of his league but he wasn't going to be throwing in the towel until it was all said and done.

By the time Howard was returning to his seat and relinquishing the floor to Romafellor, Solo had begun to tune out everything and instead focused his attention on something more appealing, namely Duo.

The braided one did not look comfortable in anyway and had a pinkish tinge on his face that remained from when Howard had pointed him out to everyone in the courtroom while he was making his opening argument. Solo did not like that, not one bit. Only he could embarrass Duo in public, or so he claimed. To see someone else do it made him want to rip out the offender's throat but he was practicing restraint this time around. The last thing he wanted to do was to commit the crime in a court of law and have no defense other than insanity to prevent him from going to prison.

"Councilors, please approach the bench."

Huh, that phrase sounded familiar. Wait, had something happened while he had been nearly drool—er, observing Duo's outward self? He had only heard that "approach the bench" phrase in the movies and it usually meant that something had happened and the judge wanted to speak with the lawyers privately without leaving the courtroom.

"What's going on?" he whispered to Duo.

Duo gave him a look that clearly said _you haven't been paying attention?_ Shaking his head as if telling the blond would be a high personal cost, he whispered back, "Romafellor's brought up some sort of agreement that my father signed years ago. Judge wants to have a look through before saying if it's admissible or what."

He really needed to start paying attention to these things. Honestly.

Aside from the whispered voices and occasional loud complaint, he couldn't grasp anything that was being said at the judge's bench but from the way the government's lawyer was marching away, along with that black scowl of his, it was obvious that things hadn't gone that man's way. The next few minutes were a bit noisy due to the fact that whatever the judge had decided, it seemed the government's case was being thrown out, leaving only Romafellor and Howard to duke it out between them. Yeah, those guys were getting out of here and Judge Peacecrap or whatever his name was was just waiting for the noise to quiet down so he could continue with the hearing.

However, Howard wasn't giving up so quickly. It was now that he could really see the other side to him that Duo had mentioned a few days earlier. The man was debating, quite loudly in fact, and was slowly losing that calmness that he had impressed upon him when they had first met. Romafellor, the representatives, not the man, were calm and their spokesman was coolly handling Howard easily.

Eventually, it came to a point where Howard wanted to start bringing up testimony from those in concern, namely Duo. That was when the judge himself intervened, siding with Romafellor.

Like the government lawyer before him, this time it was Howard who was the one with the black scowl on his face. Truly, Solo thought that he looked better with those sunglasses on; seeing Howard's dark eyes were enough to unnerve the blond teen.

Just when you thought you knew a guy, sheesh…

"Looks like that's it then," Duo sighed from right next to him. "I thought this was gonna last longer, like a few months, maybe years. But man, only a couple hours? What is this, an extended version of Judge Judy?"

"You watch that?" Solo asked, looking down at the braided one.

"Once," Duo said quickly, looking away from him. "Everybody else knows about it. I just happen to listen in."

"Oh, are you one of that old lady's fanboys?" the blond began to tease before the mental image of that thought finally hit him. Apparently, Duo had similar thoughts and was giving the blond a comical look of disgust.

"That is wrong on so many levels," Duo groaned, bowing his head into the palms of his hands as if trying to stab out his eyes.

That actually sounded like a good idea. Sometimes he even surprised himself with how disgusting his mind could get and this one just took the cake and ate it.

Thankfully, the bailiff's booming voice, ordering "All rise," was able to distract him from those horrible images, the blond's mind immediately latching onto the sound of Howard's voice as the man angrily began to mumble about filing appeals and other legal mumbo jumbo. This guy didn't seem to know when to quit. Really, just when you think you know someone…

Then the overbearing presence that could only have belonged to somebody of his uncle's caliber descended upon them. Mirroring Duo's actions next to him, he looked up to find that old man from before, the very person that Howard had called "ol' Romafellor." The guy wasn't as…big as he thought he would be. Hell, he was willing to bet that he could snap this guy in two with his bare hands if they were in a fight.

Those thoughts left him immediately as those hardened eyes fell over him and Duo, focusing more on Duo. Solo wanted more than anything to move closer to the braided one and provide him some sort of physical comfort but even though he wasn't being looked at directly, his body didn't seem to want to obey him.

The guy…no, this _man_, was something else, beyond anything he had ever dealt with. Once again, the blond felt fear course through his body, the very same fear that he had felt once he had learned about who Tsubarov was and what he had tried to do to Duo. It was an emotion that he still wasn't acquainted with and did not like in the least. It made him feel helpless, unable to do anything. He hated it whenever he felt like that.

Romafellor remained silent, as if preferring not to say anything. Then his deceptively soft voice finally flowed out, the sophistication so ingrained in it that the two teens almost thought that they were listening to a voice inside their heads.

"You are the Tsubarov boy, aren't you."

It was obvious that it wasn't a question but a statement. This man dealt in absolutes; there was no gray area in his vision.

From his dried-out mouth, Duo managed to answer, "Yes sir."

The older man seemed to be looking down his nose at Duo but his face was especially bland. There was no telling what this man was thinking of but there were cogs turning, that was for sure.

Finally speaking again, Romafellor said, "Despite how the deceased acted towards you, I bear you no malice. I come from a long tradition of passing along family wealth to the direct blood descendents. Since you are Dmitri's, I believe that I have something that belongs to you."

Swallowing, Duo asked, "What is it?"

"I want you to come to my head offices tomorrow at four o' clock sharp," Romafellor stated. "There I shall sign over everything that belongs to your father over to you, except for his position in the company, mind you."

Wide eyed, Duo only nodded. Solo couldn't help but feel stunned at this. What in hell was going on?

"That's very…" Duo paused, grasping for words, trying to use something that wouldn't offend this powerful figure. "…kind," he managed to blurt out. "It's very kind of you to do that…this…"

There wasn't even a delusion of a smile on Romafellor's face. It didn't even twitch. Just as neutral as he was when he entered the courtroom, he was just as neutral now.

"Don't be late," Romafellor said, only now turning away and leaving.

The two teens couldn't take their eyes off him until he passed through the courtroom's threshold and vanished from sight.


	57. And the World Keeps Spinning

Author's Note: We've certainly come a long way, eh? Nearly seven months and now my longest and most successful fic to date is finished. I'd like to give out a big thank you to Archsage Soren, ShadowMajin, and Vitanie Tora for sticking it out with me this long. Your reviews always brightened up my day. Anyway, I've got a couple new fics on the burner and let me warn you they have as much romance as a Jerry Bruckheimer film, so if you're looking for something fluffy from me next time, they may not be your cup of tea. So, enjoy.

P.S. I once again would like to give another thank you to Archsage Soren. I know I've more than likely have taken you out of your comfort zone with this fic but the sole fact that you're still with me at the end of it means a lot. For that, I'll let you in on something, the remake of "The Deathdealer," while not finished, is still going on smoothly and should be posted sometime in October, if not early November, so that'll be something to look forward to, eh?

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Wing or Our Lady Peace's _Bring Back the Sun_.

Warning: language, shounen ai

And the World Keeps Spinning

Raberba watched as his younger brother drove away from the estate, heading towards his own home. The elder Winner always had this sense of melancholy whenever a close relative left here. It was just that this mansion was so big and would get even bigger once a guest had left.

He sighed even as Ezekiel's car disappeared from sight, cementing the new reality and that things were going to go back to their old rituals. Well, almost…

Ezekiel had come here alone and that was exactly how he was leaving. Solomon would still be here and the Winner elder had taken quite a liking to him. Then there was his son's friend Duo. Even he had been surprised when he had heard about what his business rival was doing. To willingly give up money and property like Romafellor was doing was completely out of character of him, even though he had seen the copies of the forms Duo had signed joined with Romafellor's irrefutable John Hancock. He would definitely have to keep a close eye on that man to see if he was up to something new.

The past few weeks had been exciting, hadn't they? He was going to miss that excitement, even though he had been condemning it while it was going on. But then, wasn't that how it always went?

He continued to gaze out of his study's window, taking in the sight of the changing leaves as one season came to an end and another began.

--

"So let me get this straight," Solo said aloud, his rear planted on a sofa and his Duo plopped down right next to him. "You have all this money now and a new place to stay at yet you're still here, at my uncle's home."

Duo thought for a second before nodding in agreement. "That's about it."

"Why?"

Violet eyes looked up into inquisitive green ones. "Why would I want to live in a dead man's house filled with all his crap that I don't even care about? All I need is right here, right now. Do you want me out of here or something?"

"No, it's not that at all," Solo said quickly. "I like you here within a one block radius of me. It's just that I thought that now that you have a home now…"

"Silly blonde," Duo teased, poking the blond's nose. "There's a difference between a home and a house. A house is just a building with four walls. A home is not as easy to explain but let's say it's more…emotional than anything."

"Emotional, huh?" Solo repeated.

"Yeah, in a home, you have memories," Duo said. "You got good ones, bad ones, ones that aren't good or bad. You get what I'm saying? I've never been to that place before so what meaning would it have for me other that this was my father's house, now it's mine?"

"What logic are you using now?" Solo sighed aloud. "That didn't really make any sense whatsoever."

"What, you need me to explain it to you like you were a six year old?" Duo teased again.

"Maybe," Solo drawled. Grinning, he slid one of his hands behind the braided one's head and pulled him slightly closer so that he had an easier time capturing those luscious lips that he could never get enough of. He pulled the rest of Duo's body so that the braided teen was in his lap, straddling his waist as he allowed the blond to dominate him. Breaking the kiss off, Duo let his head rest on Solo's shoulder, his breathing slightly heavier but not quite panting either.

"I don't deserve you," Duo spoke quietly.

"You're right, you don't," Solo agreed, receiving a slight glare from the insulted teen. "But…" he continued, dragging it out a bit, "…you are stuck with me anyway. So I guess it's a win-win for everybody, eh?"

"You are so full of yourself," Duo sighed.

"And you wouldn't want me any other way, now would you?" Solo teased.

Lifting his head off of the blond's shoulder, Duo eyed Solo as if he was looking for something. With a smile creeping out from the corners of his mouth, the braided one nodded and said, "Nah, you wouldn't be you if you were some other way."

Solo blinked but allowed a bright smile out as he tightened his arms around Duo's waist, pecking Duo's lips lightly.

Things had come so far, hadn't they? The moment the two of them had met, they were pushing against each other, each trying to dominate the other but not knowing a thing about them. To Duo, he was probably just some spoiled rich boy with who took everything for granted, while to him, Duo was some pushy friend of his cousin's with an attitude problem. Now, though, now they each not only had a better understanding of the other but accepted their flaws.

Time had certainly blown past them, carrying with it some incredible misadventures. But Solo knew this wasn't the end of them. No, there were still some things in their futures that they would have to face, college just being one of them. Still, it ought to be quite fun when that did come along.

"Hey," Duo's voice interrupted his musings. Blinking his eyes so that he could focus back on the here and now, he looked into questioning violet eyes. "What are you thinking about?" the braided one asked, suspicious of what could have been flitting though his mind.

He had every reason to be suspicious; he was a pretty perverted person after all. On that thought, he lowered his hands further down Duo's body and grasped a hold of the firm muscles that made up Duo's _gluteus maximus_.

Violet eyes widening at the sudden grope, Duo demanded, "What are you…?"

His lazy smile turning into a smirk, he stood up off the couch, taking Duo with him but not losing hold of the smaller body for a second. In surprise, Duo's legs wrapped around his waist while his small hands grabbed hold of his shoulders tightly.

"Solo!" Duo cried out, confused to this sudden action.

"Ssh," Solo shushed, tenderly claiming the braided one's lips. Pulling away, he breathed, "Don't worry your pretty braid off. I'll be gentle."

Being the one to blink this time, Duo caught on to the blond's train of thought and smiled back conspiratorially. "Better keep your socks on then. Don't want you getting cold feet, now would we?"

"And why are you so concerned about my feet all of a sudden?" the blond said right back to him.

"Am I ready for all you can give me?" Duo teased.

"Not yet," he replied as he slowly began to walk out of the living room, heading towards a more private place. "But, I still got a few things up my sleeve that I think you are going to like. A lot."

"Prove it," Duo challenged tauntingly.

"As you wish."

As he slowly continued on his way, braided one in arms, he swayed his hips all the while softly singing the words to a song.

"…_the mystery's gone…so bring back the sun…we'll bury this hate…we'll build it with love…mystery's gone…the mystery is gone…mystery's gone…_"

--

Saving the image onto his phone, Quatre smirked wickedly after his cousin.

He didn't have any malicious tendencies, no really, he didn't. Sure there was a thought to taunt Solo with this, threatening to destroy his reputation at school with it and whatnot. That was where using the camera feature on his phone would have come in handy… Damn it, he didn't have any audio of action but it wasn't a total waste. Why hadn't he thought to use the camera feature?

At least he was going to see his cousin turn to the color of a tomato, at least he was sure that was going to happen. Hey, he might be chased all over the house until the other caught up with him or his best friend intervened but the end result would be that it was worth it.

He would have liked to say that he had a hand in bringing his cousin and best friend together but that was simply not the case this time.

Or the time before that one but it didn't count.

But, he was a gracious person, if nothing else. He would let his friend and his cousin have their time to themselves. What would he do in the meantime, though? Maybe he should give Trowa a call and see what he was doing…


End file.
